


Cursed

by Vicsmi



Series: Delec 'verse [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), Supernatural
Genre: F/M, M/M, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:01:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 25,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24015634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vicsmi/pseuds/Vicsmi
Summary: Five weeks have passed since the events of Asmodeus. Alec's eye is healing slowly, but there are other problems to deal with. After an unusual run in with a nest of vampires the Winchesters and their friends are left with yet another mystery to solve. Only this time, the mystery has a ticking clock, and if time runs out, someone dies."Delec" sequel!!
Relationships: Alec Lightwood & Dean Winchester, Alec Lightwood/Dean Winchester, Delec
Series: Delec 'verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727533
Comments: 41
Kudos: 44





	1. Forgiveness

**Author's Note:**

> Finally! The story continues. I just have to warn you, the updates won't be as frequent as they were with the first story. Damn finals! But I'll do my best to keep posting! :) 
> 
> Also, tags will be updated every now and then, because I don't know exactly where the story is going!

Dean and Alec were in the infirmary, and Sam, Jack, and Castiel were hanging back, watching in anticipation. It had been roughly 5 weeks since the death of Asmodeus, and Alec’s eye had been healing slowly, sure, but it had gotten better and better. Now it was the moment of truth, either the eye was healed and Alec would be able to see properly again, or it had failed and they needed to call Rowena again. 

Alec was sitting on one of the beds and Dean was slowly and carefully removing the eyepatch. He stood with one leg between Alec’s knees and took the younger man’s chin between his thumb and index finger, tilting his head up to get a better angle. He then peeled off the dressing, to which Alec hissed a little, the dressing having been dried stuck to the eyelid. Dean started to clean the eye carefully, keeping a stoic expression throughout the whole process. 

“Can you open it?” He asked gently. 

Alec complied and carefully opened his left eye. Dean took in the sight. No matter how many times he’d seen it before, it always made his stomach do a nervous flip. It looked really bad. The cursed weapon left a definitely permanent scar right through Alec’s eyebrow and down on his eyelid. Luckily Duma had only grazed the eye itself and it had now completely healed, in the physical sense at least. Dean flashed a light right into the eye, Alec flinched.

“Good! Your eye is reacting. Can you see?” Dean asked.

“Well you just blinded me all over again, so no.” Alec scolded.

“Quit being such a baby. You flinched, that’s good news. Just blink a couple of times and tell me what you see.” Dean instructed in a stern voice. 

Alec did what he was told, but scowling at Dean nonetheless, who kept a serious face. After the light started to fade he closed his right eye and concentrated on his surroundings. A couple of days ago he could see shadows, very vaguely but still. Now he looked at Dean and could make out his face close range at least, it was a little blurry, but the effect seemed to fade away. 

“It’s a little blurry but I can definitely see you.” He muttered.

“Good! Guys, we have a seer!” Dean called over his shoulder to the men watching.

“Oh, thank God.” Sam breathed out. Both Jack and Cas lowered their shoulders in relief as well.

Dean turned back to Alec who looked really sad. Dean’s expression immediately showed concern. “What’s wrong?” He asked the younger man.

“Nothing. Just glad to see the depth of your handsome face again.” Alec said with a half smirk.

“Don’t flirt with me, kid.” Dean scolded, serious expression back in place. “There’s something else, tell me.” 

Alec glanced over to the men standing behind Dean, then back down on his lap. Dean took the hint.

“Guys, can you give us a minute?” Dean asked over his shoulder. 

The other three men nodded with a smile and left the infirmary, closing the door behind them. 

“Now you wanna tell me?” Dean asked while cleaning up after them.

“We haven’t really talked since after hell, and I-I just…” Alec trailed off, not making eye contact. 

“What do you mean? We talk everyday.” Dean shot back, not stopping what he was doing.

“Yeah like acknowledgements at breakfast, or questions about a case… I mean like a real talk. About us, about what I said and about what I did…” Alec responded calmly. 

Dean sighed but walked over to the shadowhunter. “I know.” He said, putting his hand on Alec’s shoulder.

Alec looked up into his eyes. “You know? That’s great then!” He said sarcastically, exhaling through his nose in frustration. 

“Hey, I’m sorry. I just…” Dean went down on one knee, looking up at Alec. “I have thought about what you said. And I get it. You were upset and hurt, it’s okay to be.”

“Yeah, but that’s no excuse. I shouldn’t have pushed you away like that, I should’ve-”

“No. Alec, it’s okay. I think it would benefit both of us to stop thinking in past tense. What could’ve been done, what should’ve been done. As my brother have pointed out numerous times, it’s not healthy. Let’s just try and move forward.” Dean told him with a smile. 

“But, just, do you forgive me?” Alec asked a little carefully. 

“I forgave you last week when you and Jack ‘accidentally’ drenched those sandwiches in mayo and made Sam spill all over his favourite shirt.” Dean said with a chuckle. 

Alec chuckled with him and smiled. Alec leaned in but Dean stopped him gently. 

“I’m not saying no, Alec. I just need a little bit of time.” Dean said sadly. 

“Oh. I-I’m sorry, I just thought you meant, when you said you forgave me, and…” Alec stuttered out, a blush on his cheeks. 

“I meant what I said. I just want to make sure that you are in this, 100 percent. Both for your sake and mine.” Dean said with a comforting smile. Alec nodded. “Now let’s put that healed eye of yours to use, I think I heard Sam mention something about a nest of vampires!” Dean added, standing up. Before walking away he offered his hand to Alec who took it with a wide smile. 


	2. Four go in, three come out

Sam had gotten a call earlier from a fellow hunter who had heard rumours about a small nest of vamps wreaking havoc in Northern Arkansas. The hunter had been busy with some other job and asked if the Winchesters could 'help a fellow out.' Which of course they did. So they jumped in Baby together with Alec and Castiel and put the pedal to the metal. They arrived at a hotel in the early afternoon, the sun was still shining bright. They stepped out of the car and went back to the trunk. 

Alec had seen the hidden compartment in the trunk of the car many times, but it still took his breath away. It spoke to his inner shadowhunter and reminded him of the armory at the institute. It did not however speak to his inner neat freak. Okay, neat freak might be a strong term, but he liked when things were organized. He glanced down at the trunk and for maybe the 100th time wondered how on earth they managed to find the weapon they needed every time. It was chaos. He should really help them organize it some time. Dean pulled out a shotgun and used it to hold open the hidden trunk. He proceeded to take out four machetes. 

“Did you do your homework on vampires?” Sam asked Alec while Dean threw him a machete which he caught. 

“You make it sound like I’m in school. But yes, I’ve memorized the differences between vampires then and now, if that’s what you’re asking.” Alec responded, inspecting the weapon. 

“Good. Please enlighten us.” Dean said teasingly, he knew he was bugging the shadowhunter but he found it amusing. 

Alec glared at him and sighed. “They won’t burn in the sun. Holy Water doesn’t work, staking them won’t do shit. There’s only one way to kill them.” Alec listed.

“Which is?” Sam asked.

“You cut their heads off.” Alec responded with a smirk, jokingly swinging the machete. 

“Easy there.” Dean scolded but smirked at him.

“Everyone ready?” Sam asked the group. Everyone nodded except Castiel.

“Cas, what’s wrong?” Dean asked the angel. 

“I don’t know. It’s probably nothing…” Cas muttered and started walking towards the entrance of the building. 

When they walked inside the place was deadly quiet. They stealthily walked around, weapons at the ready, looking for the vampires. Sam rounded a corner and raised his weapon. He silently gestured for the rest of the group to come over which they did. Alec looked into the room where Sam had stopped. Inside there were 7 vampires. That’s a little big for a small nest, he thought. But he wasn’t worried, they were four hunters, this would still be a piece of cake. They snuck in and took the vampires by surprise. Dean swung his machete and a head rolled. Sam swung his and two more were dead. Castiel managed to get one and so did Alec. Dean was closing in on one of them and Sam on the other. Castiel narrowed his eyes and inspected one of the vampires with a questioning look. Suddenly, the vampires shared a look and laughed.  _ What the hell? _ One of the vampires put her fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. 

Everyone froze. There were sounds coming from behind them. Both Sam and Dean unfroze and cut the heads off the last two vampires before quickly exiting the room and Cas and Alec followed. What they were met with was, to put it mildly, scary as hell. They were standing in a hallway by some stairs, and everywhere they looked, there was at least a dozen vampires. This was not a small nest, this was a whole clan of them! And they had walked in with four machetes… They were doomed. Alec quickly thought back to when they had walked into Hotel DuMort to save Simon, there had only been four of them then too. But those had been different kinds of vampires. These were stronger, and they wouldn’t just perish by a seraph blade or the sun. And the only reason they had gotten out that day was because of Raphael.

He didn’t have time to think anymore since the vampires lunged at them and a fight erupted. Machetes were swinging left and right and vampires were trying to sink their teeth into every single one of the hunters. So far, Alec managed to dodge the attacks, decapitating every vampire who tried to bite him. He saw Dean across the room, blood on his face, cutting off yet another head. They tried to work their way out of the building, even though the vampires could follow they needed to get out of there, and Baby was the best chance. They were almost out when one of the vampires knocked Dean into a wall and he collapsed on the ground. Sam and Alec rushed over to drag him out while Cas tried to hold the monsters at bay. 

Sam grabbed his brother’s arm over his shoulder and dragged him out to the car, Cas fending off the vampires long enough for them to throw Dean into the backseat and Sam and Cas jumped in the front. Sam grabbed the keys from Dean’s pocket and frantically tried to get the key into the ignition. When he finally managed, he turned the key and started the car, looking back at his brother. Something was missing. No,  _ someone _ was missing. 

“Cas, where’s Alec?!” He asked the angel in panic. 

They exchanged a look and without a word, sprinted into the hotel again to save their friend. When they entered, the building was deadly silent again. They searched all the rooms they could find, but all the vampires were gone without a trace. And so was Alec.


	3. Left for dead

One second Dean was slashing his way towards the exit of the run down hotel building, trying to get him and his friends out of what was obviously a big setup. He felt something blunt hit his head and everything went dark. The next second, he was opening his eyes slowly, seeing a blue light above him. It was Cas, healing him. He glanced around and gathered that he was back at the bunker, the infirmary to be exact. He sat up and Castiel backed up a little. Sam and Jack were standing in the corner, anxious looks on their faces. 

“Did I get knocked out again?” He asked them and rubbed his face.

“Yes. You were knocked into a wall.” Cas explained plainly. 

“Figures. Hey, you don’t need to look so worried, I’m fine.” Dean told Sam and Jack with a smile. 

They said nothing, and their expressions didn’t change. Dean looked at them with furrowed brows, wondering what was with them. He looked around and noticed that they were one nephilim short. 

“Hey, where’s Alec?” He asked with narrowed eyes. 

“We don’t know.” Sam told him with a guilty look. 

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Dean asked in a slightly raised voice. 

“He was right behind us when we got out. Then when we were in the car he wasn’t there anymore.” Castiel explained, looking away. 

“What? What do you mean? Did he just vanish into thin air?” Dean asked sharply. 

“No, he uhm… We think the vampires got him.” Sam explained. 

“What?! And you just left him there?!” Dean raised his voice angrily, making the other men flinch. 

“No of course not! We went back, but they were gone. The vampires and Alec. We searched the whole building!” Castiel exclaimed. 

Dean looked down. You could almost see the steam of anger rolling off of him. They all knew what was coming, but it didn’t stop them from flinching and jumping slightly when Dean knocked over the nearby side table, sending it into the wall, all supplies clanking to the floor. 

“SON OF A BITCH!!” 

“Dean, we’ll get him back. Calm down.” Sam tried but earned himself a death glare. 

“Calm down?! Are you fucking kidding me?! Did you not see how many vampires were there?! There is no way he’ll make it through that, Sam! Even if he somehow miraculously made it, we have no idea where they took him!” Dean shouted back. 

“I think I know where we can start looking.” Castiel interjected. The other three stared at him. 

“What do you mean?” Sam asked. 

“I saw a symbol on one of the vampires. I recognized it. If we can identify the symbol, maybe we can find the clan.” Castiel explained in his usual plain tone. 

“Draw it, and we’ll hit the books. It’s better than nothing.” Sam said and went out through the door. Castiel followed. 

“Are you coming?” Jack asked Dean carefully. 

“In a minute. You go ahead.” Dean gritted out through his teeth. He didn’t want to take his anger out on Jack, he had done nothing wrong. 

Jack nodded and left, leaving a still angry Dean on the bed in the infirmary. He put his head in his hands and tried to take deep breaths. Breathe in, breathe out. It didn’t work. He punched the wall and immediately felt a little better.

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

Sam was sitting in the library doing research when Dean walked in with a bandaged hand. Sam raised his eyebrows at his brother but didn’t say anything, he knew how his brother dealt with anger.

“Anything?” Dean asked and sat down. 

“Nothing yet. You ok?” Sam asked back.

“I’m fine. Can I help?” Dean asked and grabbed a book without waiting for an answer. 

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you throw yourself into research so willingly.” Sam told him without looking up from the pages. 

“Yeah, that's because usually when I do this you're the one I'm trying to find. Now it's Alec. We have to find him. If there’s even the slightest chance he’s still alive and breathing, we have to hurry to get him back before those chances are gone.” Dean said in a stern voice. 

“Yeah I get it. We’ll keep looking. We’ll find him.” 

“No, Sam. You don’t get it. I never told him.” Dean breathed out, voice a little cracked. 

“Told him what?” Sam asked, now looking at his brother with furrowed brows. 

“I found something!” Jack called out from the other room before appearing in the library. Cas was right behind him. “This is the symbol, right?” He asked Cas who was peering over his shoulder.

“Yes.” The angel answered.

“What does it say, then?” Sam asked the young nephilim. 

“It says, and I quote, ‘the symbol of the sun in a world of shadows.’” Jack told them and knit his brows in confusion. 

“Well that’s fucking cryptic. Does it say anything about why a vampire would wear it?” Dean asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“No, it doesn’t even mention vampires. But this is the symbol.” Castiel answered him. 

“Wait, ‘world of shadows’? Could it be referring to the Shadow World?” Sam thought out loud. 

The others looked at him, then seemed to consider the theory. 

“You mean that the vampire came from the Shadow World?” Dean asked after a while. 

  
“I don't think so, not with those types of fangs… And that symbol never showed up in their history book, I’ve never seen it before.” Sam told him and rubbed his chin in deep thought. 

“Maybe Alec would have been able to recognize it…” Jack said sadly. 

“Kid, you’re a genius!” Dean burst out, shocking everyone with his sudden mood change. 

  
“Dean, what are you referring to?” Castiel asked with narrowed eyes, tilting his head. 

“If the symbol is referring to the Shadow World, someone from there would be able to recognize it, right?” Dean asked with a smile.

“Yeah, you’re right! I can call Madzie.” Sam said, taking out his phone. 

  
“But Madzie was just a youngling when she was brought here from that world. I doubt she would know much.” Castiel thought out loud. 

“Yeah, keep it in your pants Sammy. I actually have a better idea…” Dean said and smirked at his brother who scowled at him.


	4. You always have a friend in Hell

Dean stepped through the thick double doors leading into the throne room. Magnus was, just like the last time he’d seen him, lazing on the throne, book in hand. He glanced up at Dean with an annoyed look.

“Ever heard of knocking, mundane?” He shot at the hunter. 

“No time for formalities, warlock. I need your help.” Dean shot back. 

Magnus rolled his eyes, this person reminded him so much of the arrogant shadowhunters from his original world. He bookmarked the page he was on and put the book down, sitting up straighter. 

“And why would I help you? Especially after barging into my throne room like a demanding, wannabe shadowhunter?” Magnus asked him with a raised eyebrow. 

“Okay firstly, I get you’re relatively new to this world, but we’re called hunters. We have nothing to do with shadows. Secondly, I need your help because of those shadows. I need someone from the Shadow World.” Dean explained with a half smirk. 

“Why don’t you bother your boyfriend, then?” Magnus asked the hunter with an overdramatic eyeroll. 

  
“Because it’s  _ about _ Alec.” Dean said, locking eyes with the warlock. 

“Seriously? Don’t tell me you came all the way down here for dating advice?” Magnus asked him. 

“No. It’s not like that. Alec’s gone.” Dean told him, all attitude dropped. 

“He’s what? What did you do?” Magnus asked, now glaring at the other man. 

  
“Hey, I didn’t  _ do _ anything. We were on a hunt that went sideways. I got knocked out and when I woke up Alec was gone.” Dean defended. 

Magnus looked at him suspiciously, but nodded slowly. 

“And where did he go?” 

“Best guess, kidnapped by vampires.” Dean told him. 

“I see… And how is this of any relevance to the Shadow World? Vampires exist here too, no?” Magnus asked the hunter with an incredulous look. 

“They do.” Dean confirmed, walking towards Magnus. “But one of them was wearing this.” He added, handing a piece of paper with the symbol to Magnus who took it and looked at it, no emotion reflecting what he was thinking. 

“Do you know it?” Dean asked the warlock after a long silence. 

“Hm. I do.” He said shortly. 

“So, can you tell me why a vampire was wearing it?” Dean asked, getting a little impatient. 

  
“Maybe. It’s odd, I haven’t seen it here before. It could be a vampire from the Shadow World who made it over. What did they look like?” Magnus asked, handing the paper back to Dean who folded it up and put it in his pocket. 

“Chick, brown hair, nothing special about her. But she had fangs from our world. She flashed them right when her head flew off.” Dean told him and crossed his arms. 

“Ew. Thanks for that image in my mind.” Magnus said and scrunched up his nose in disgust. 

“You’re the king of hell?” Dean told him with a weird look. 

“That doesn’t mean that I have to like death and torture.” Magnus stated. 

“Right, okay. But the symbol. Any guesses?” Dean asked the warlock. 

“I do have a theory. What exactly do you know of this symbol?” Magnus asked him.

“‘The symbol of the sun in a world of shadows.’” Dean quoted from the book. 

“That does sound like it has something to do with the Shadow World alright. But focus on the first part, then you’ll figure out what it has to do with vampires.” He told the hunter who looked at him with narrowed eyes. 

Dean thought about it. Symbol of the sun… It didn’t mean much here, but the sun were one of the vampires’ greatest weaknesses in the Shadow World. But he couldn’t put the information together. He looked at the warlock. 

“You’ll have to fill me in. I don’t speak your cryptic warlock language.” Dean said. 

“I’m not being cryptic, I’m being-” Magnus started.

“Don’t tell me you’re being coy.” Dean interrupted with a sigh.

  
“Oh, Alexander told you about that, did he?” Magnus asked with raised eyebrows. He was a little surprised, but he supposed Alexander shared almost everything with this man if they were together, he was always open and talkative with the ones he loved. 

“That’s not what I was going to say though, what I  _ was _ going to say was that I was being helpful. I honestly thought that you would be able to put two and two together, but apparently I overestimated the mundanes in this world.” He said, earning a mock smile from the hunter. 

“What I mean by that is that alone the symbol is one of the sun. But if it’s mixed up in vampire business it gets an entirely new meaning.” Magnus explained, pausing for emphasis. When Dean looked at him expectantly, waiting for an answer, he continued. 

“It is the symbol of a vampire who walks in the sun. It is the symbol of the Daylighter.” He explained to the hunter who looked at him in even more confusion than before. 


	5. Vampires, bored, decadent vampires...

Alec had Dean’s arm over his shoulder, Sam on the other side, dragging the older man towards the exit of the hotel building while Cas was slashing away with his machete, making way for them. Suddenly he felt something sharp in his shoulderblade and he hissed from the pain. He was dragged backwards to the floor, losing Dean’s arm in the fall. He turned around to see a vampire standing over him, blood on her clawlike nails. She was probably the one who had scratched at his shoulderblade. He tried to kick at her feet, but she dodged it and pinned him to the floor. She was just about to sink her sharp teeth into him when someone knocked her out of the way. 

“Wait! Look!” The other vampire called out and pointed to Alec on the floor. 

The vampires around him stilled and inspected the shadowhunter. 

“Look at his neck. Don’t you idiots recognize it?!” The vampire called out to his fellow monsters. 

Suddenly, someone put a blindfold on him and he could feel someone picking him up and running away. He tried to wriggle out of the grip and screamed, but the grip was too strong and anyone who heard him just ignored his screams or laughed. What the hell was happening? Was he being kidnapped by  _ vampires? _

After what felt like an eternity Alec was put down rather harshly on a hard and cold floor. He quickly scrambled to his knees only to be pushed forward by someone tying his hands behind his back. After that he could hear some of the vampires whisper to each other, something resembling fear in their voices. He could make out a few words but they didn’t make sense. 

“The boss...looking...tattoo…” 

Suddenly, someone walked in through a door somewhere in front of him and the whispers died down. The person who had just stepped in spoke clearly. 

“He’s on his way. Nobody touches him.” 

After that Alec could hear the door opening and shutting again. Someone was coming… Probably the boss they’d been whispering about… But for what? To kill him? Though the voice had instructed nobody touches him, so it couldn’t be that bad, could it? Alec thought hard about what to do about the situation. He suddenly remembered that he had a knife hidden in his boot, and he could reach it. He knew he could. But he couldn’t see so he didn’t know if anyone was watching him. He needed to distract them. He backed up slightly only to hit a wall, perfect. He quickly grabbed the knife and hid it with the motion of sitting legs out, back to the wall. That way he could hide that he was cutting the ropes, but he still needed to cover up the sound and the subtle movements. He needed them to make noise… 

“So what do you want me for?” He asked the room in general.

“None of your business.” A deep, male voice told him harshly. 

“Kind of seems like it is. I’m the one being kidnapped after all, shouldn’t I have a right to know why?” Alec shot back.

“The boss has been looking for you, ever since he heard about- Ow!” A female voice told him, but was interrupted by a smack. 

“Why don’t you tell him all our secrets too while you’re at it!” The male voice scolded the female one. 

“Please do!” Alec teased with a smile and started to subtly cut the ropes behind his back. 

“Don’t!” The male voice burst out. 

“I won’t! Geez, you think I’m stupid or something?!” The female voice shot back. The two started to argue and Alec took the opportunity to subtly cut through the ropes. Until a third voice intervened. 

“Hey! You two, stop fighting! Clearly  _ he’s _ the one who thinks you’re stupid enough to tell him all our secrets! Take your anger out on him!” The third voice called out.

“Yeah, you’re right!” The female voice yelled angrily. 

Well shit. He did not see that twist coming, and he was only about half done with the ropes. He felt a pair of strong arms grip him and throw him forward and he landed face down on the hard floor. That was going to hurt tomorrow… He had dropped his knife, but thankfully no one seemed to have noticed that at least. A pair of hands grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him. He could feel someone’s breath on his neck. Oh shit, were they going to bite him? Alec felt actual fear now. He had never been afraid of being bitten before, seeing as turning into a vampire was a whole process with a lot of steps. But he knew that in this world, it was only a bite and some of their blood in his mouth that did the trick, and they could easily force it down his throat with their strength and him unarmed. This was  _ not _ good. He felt the breath on his skin, and the faint graze of sharp teeth. Then the door opened with a boom.

“Hey! Stop that! I thought I said nobody touch him until I got here? Seriously guys, why can’t you ever listen and follow simple instructions? I mean, I try with you guys, I try to be like a nice boss and everything but apparently I have to start being the bad boss. And I don’t like being the bad boss, and neither do you! So please, just listen to me for once. Let him go! Yeah, I’m talking to you,  _ Shira _ ! And untie him while you’re at it. Geez, never can I ever have a peaceful day…” 

  
Alec felt the female vampire let go of him and he dropped to the floor again. Alec didn’t move. He was frozen in place, but not because he was nearly bitten, or because he was afraid of the boss. It was because the boss had said all of that in  _ one _ long sentence. He would recognize that annoying chatter anywhere. Simon!


	6. Do not fear, your cavalry is here!

Dean was driving back to the bunker after his visit to Magnus. He watched the miles and miles of road in front of him, getting a little too lost in his own thoughts for it to be a safe drive. He had to refocus several times not to crash Baby. But it was hard. All the thoughts and emotions swirled around in his head, causing a tornado in there. Not only had Alec been kidnapped by vampires, but he was unarmed, and Dean couldn’t remember if the shadowhunter had his stele or not. He was probably scared, and hurt, and possibly de… No. He couldn’t think like that. Alec Lightwood was not allowed to die. Not for a long time. Not before Dean had a chance to tell him that he did love him back…

He should have forgiven the younger man sooner. He should have just let go of his stupid pride and forgiven him right away. He felt such regret over how it all went down, and now he may be too late. Then another thought struck him, what if they didn’t want to kill Alec? What if they turned him into one of them?! That was even worse! But if they bit him that meant… What was it Magnus had said? ‘If he willingly lets them bite him, they will turn into daylighters.’ Dean wasn’t sure exactly what that entailed since vampires could walk in the sun anyways, but he didn’t really want to find out either. 

But that was only if they figured out that Alec was a nephilim, that he had angelblood. And if Alec would willingly let them feed on him, which was not very likely. But this clan, they did have something to do with daylighters, they wore the Shadow World’s mark of the sun after all. Dean tried to piece together the information he had gotten from Magnus and what he remembered about the hunt and the clan. It was not the easiest task, but thanks to Magnus he knew where to start looking at least. Magnus had been able to track Alec to somewhere around Harrison, Arkansas. As much as he wanted to drive straight there, he needed backup. So the bunker first, then Harrison. 

When he arrived at the bunker he ran down the stairs and into the library where the rest of the men were doing research.

“Harrison, Arkansas.” He panted out, a little out of breath from the run from the car and down the stairs.

“What? You found him?” Sam asked. 

  
“Magnus did, sort of. He said he tracked Alec to somewhere around there.” Dean told him. 

“Good, let’s go.” Jack said and stood up. 

“I’m not sure if it’s such a great idea for you to come.” Dean said and Jack looked at him in confusion.

“Why not?” Castiel asked with the same look.

“If vampires drink angelblood they turn into daylighters. I do  _ not _ want to deal with that mess, whatever it may be.” Dean explained.

“Then I shouldn’t be there either.” Castiel said and tilted his head. 

“You’re good. You’re in a vessel, it’s not the same thing.” Dean said to the angel. 

“But I want to help. I’ll be careful, I promise! I want to help save Alec.” Jack pleaded.

“Dean, you saw how many vampires were there, we need all the manpower we can get.” Sam told him.

Dean thought it over. He had to willingly be fed on after all if the vampires wanted the gift.

“Fine. But you have to make sure  _ not _ to let them feed on you willingly. And I know you’re not that stupid but vampires are shifty. They might try and trick you into letting them feed on you if they are aware of the effects.” Dean explained and looked sternly at the nephilim. 

“I promise, I’ll be extra careful.” Jack said with a smile.

“What else did Magnus tell you? Did he recognize the symbol?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, it’s the Shadow World’s symbol of the sun, but if it’s related to vampires it’s the symbol of a daylighter.” Dean explained. 

“That’s why you’re worried they might feed on Jack… And Alec!” Castiel said and realisation hit him. “You don’t think they have tricked him into letting them feed on him, do you?” 

“I hope not, but that’s what I’m afraid of, or if they turned him… No outcome of this can be good, that’s why we need to hurry.” Dean said and walked towards the stairs. “Come on!” He called out over his shoulder. 

The three remaining residents of the bunker followed him, getting ready for a fight. 

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

“Simon?” Alec asked. The room fell silent. 

“Alec. It’s me. I’m going to remove your blindfold now, okay?” Simon said and reached out for the shadowhunter.

When Alec could see again he looked up at the figure who had removed his blindfold. It was indeed Simon, still the pale 18 year old he had left behind in Brooklyn. He had the same hair, same brown eyes, and was sporting a bright green novelty t-shirt with some quote from something Alec had probably never seen.

“I never thought I would say this but I am so happy to see you!” Alec exclaimed with a laugh.

“Always so charming. What are you waiting for? Cut him loose!” Simon told another vampire who obeyed. 

When Alec was loose he embraced Simon and hugged him tightly. 

“Are you dying or something?” Simon asked with a laugh, clearly shocked at this new endearment. 

“No, it’s just… I lost everyone, it’s so nice to see a familiar face.” Alec said once they parted. 

“Yeah, I was gonna ask you about that actually. We looked  _ everywhere _ for you. What happened in Idris? How did you end up here?” Simon asked, gesturing Alec to sit in a nearby chair after he dismissed the other vampires. 

“I was knocked unconscious as I stepped into a portal and ended up here in this world, or future, or whatever you want to call it. I ended up in someone’s bedroom in Kansas, to be specific.” Alec explained. 

“Wow. It’s like the reversed Wizard of Oz…” Simon said in shock. 

“How about you? I know some people made it over here, but I thought it was mostly warlocks?” Alec asked the vampire. 

“Yeah, I hitched a ride with one of them, ended up in the olden days so to speak, I really missed the 21st century though. You should have seen my celebration when it finally rolled around, again.” Simon said with a chuckle. 

“Yeah I can imagine…” Alec scoffed, but not unkindly. “But how did you know I was here?”

“I heard rumours about a nephilim, someone Madzie called father. Just put two and two together and sent out a message to look for someone with your deflect rune. It was a bit of a stretch I admit, but apparently it worked!” Simon answered happily. 

“Yeah, thank the Angel for that. I think I might have been liquid lunch otherwise.” Alec said.

“Did you know that Magnus went here too?” Simon asked on a more serious note. 

  
“Yeah. Did you know he died?” Alec asked back.

“I heard. Took me nearly a decade to get over. He was the closest one from home, you know? Even if he pretended to never remember my name.” Simon said with a sad smile.

“Yeah I get it. He’s doing good though, I actually saw him a while ago. He’s the new king of hell.” Alec told him plainly. 

“He’s what? Seriously?” Simon asked, mouth gaping in shock. Alec laughed. 

“Yeah. It’s true, I went down there with Dean, Sam, and Jack.” Alec told him.

“New friends?” Simon asked with a smile. “What are they? Downworlders? Other nephilim?”

“Don’t laugh. They’re mundanes. Or well, Jack is a nephilim, more pure blooded, sired by Lucifer himself actually.” Alec explained and Simon’s eyes just grew wider and wider. 

“You’re gonna have to fill me in on what the hell you’ve been doing since you got here… Your life sounds like a so-bad-it’s-good movie.” Simon said with a laugh. 

Suddenly, they could hear the vampires outside, loud thumps, and screams. 

“I think my cavalry is here.” Alec joked, but Simon looked a bit annoyed. 

“You think you can stop them from killing  _ all _ of my minions maybe? I worked hard to build this clan.” He said with a glance at the shadowhunter. 

“I’ll try. They’re hunters. I’ll explain later.” Alec said and stood up.

The first one to burst through the door was Dean, blood on his face and a machete in hand. He breathed heavily and looked at Simon then Alec. He hesitated, probably since Simon looked less like a vampire and more like a college geek.

“He’s good. Don’t kill him.” Alec said as the rest of the hunters followed Dean into the room.

Dean threw his machete to the side and walked determinedly over to Alec. He grabbed the shadowhunter and hugged him, tight. It was only him and Alec at that moment. They sank to their knees and Dean grabbed Alec’s face, making sure he was okay. 

He knew what he wanted to say. He had thought about it a thousand times, but now, holding Alec in his arms again, his head cleared a bit and he couldn't get the words out. He couldn't tell him he loved him, not now, not when he realized the feeling might have been fuelled by worry. They still had so much to sort out. So all he said was; 

“I was worried sick! Thank God you're okay!" He exclaimed, squeezing the shadowhunter tighter.

“I'm sorry. But I kinda need to breathe." Alec said with a smile. When Dean loosened his grip he gazed into Dean’s forest greens. Or well, they were more greyish green at the moment. 

“Wow, I really have missed a lot, huh?” Simon said with a smile. “I’m Simon Lewis.” He said and reached out his hand to Sam who shook it. 

“What? You’re  _ the _ Simon Lewis?” Sam asked in slight shock. 

Before Simon could answer Alec explained. 

“Magnus wrote a history book about the Shadow World that somehow ended up here, we’re all in it.” He said plainly. 

“Oh. Cool.” Simon said. 

Alec looked at Simon, his t-shirt a different shade of green than before. It was more pale, colourless… 

“So anyway, did you kill my  _ whole _ clan or did you leave some of my minions alive?” Simon asked and looked at Sam and the others, still with their weapons in hand. 

“We killed about a dozen, those who were outside the doors. The rest ran away” Dean answered with a semi apologetic smile. 

“That leaves some of them at least… But was it really necessary? We didn’t hurt Alec.” Simon said and gestured towards the totally fine shadowhunter.

“We didn’t know that. We’re sorry.” Jack said.

“Well, they were monsters…” Castiel said and Simon rolled his eyes. 

“Anyway, we should go, are you coming with us?” Sam intervened before Cas and Simon could start any type of argument. 

“You’re inviting a vampire to come with us? No offense.” Dean said. 

“Little taken.” Simon answered with a frown. 

“I don’t think it’s such a good idea…” Castiel offered. 

“Well, you scared away my clan, I don’t really have anything else going on at the moment. Besides, I want to catch up a little more with Alec.” Simon said. 

Alec’s head pounded, he didn’t like all this back and forth. It was making him dizzy.

“Guys…” He said but no one listened. 

“I think it would be fun.” Jack argued with a smile to Simon. 

“And it could be educational.” Sam added.

“Well I’m not coming as some type of experimental guinea pig.” Simon said. 

“Guys, please…” Alec tried but was still not getting anyone’s attention.

“No, not like that. I just mean-” Sam said but was cut off.

Alec felt dizzy, everything was spinning, and he fell to the floor. Now they all looked at him. Dean caught him, and the last thing he remembered before everything went black was the commotion of the other men’s panicked voices. 


	7. Are you guys like the Scooby Gang?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for the comments! It means so much to me, and I light up every time I read them! You guys are awesome! <3

“Cas, call Rowena! Sam, help me carry him into the infirmary!” Dean shouted as they all entered the bunker. 

Jack and Simon hung back as the others followed Dean’s orders, panicked and trying to stay out of the way. 

“What the hell is happening?” Simon asked the nephilim.

“It’s Alec’s eye. An angel stabbed him with a cursed weapon a few months ago.” Jack told the vampire. 

“Oh shit. That doesn’t sound good. But didn’t it heal?” He asked.

“It did. But something must be wrong. That’s why Cas is calling Rowena.” Jack explained. 

“And who’s that?” Simon asked curiously.

“The witch who healed Alec last time.” Jack answered. 

“Wow. I really have a lot of catching up to do…” Simon said and dragged his hand through his hair, eyebrows raised. 

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

Several hours later Dean was standing in the hallway outside of the infirmary when Rowena walked out of it. She had a sombre expression. Not good. 

“What happened?” Dean asked, not even trying to hide the worry in his voice. 

“The counterspell I did, it reversed. The curse is much stronger than I thought…” Rowena told him, looking at her feet. 

“But he’s alive?” Dean dreaded the answer. 

“Yes. But…” Rowena trailed off. 

“But what? What aren’t you telling me?!” Dean raised his voice. Sam tried to put his hand on his brother’s shoulder, but Dean shrugged it off. “Just tell me, please.”

“The spell reversed, and it is unhealing his eye so to speak. He’s not in any pain, but… When it’s back to its original state, like he was when he was first stabbed, the curse will continue what it was meant to do from the start.” Rowena said. 

“Which is?” Sam asked. 

“It is slowly killing him. The curse will spread slowly from his eye, and when it reaches his heart…” She trailed off. She didn’t have to say anymore, they all knew. 

“Is he awake yet?” Dean asked the redhead. 

“That’s the thing. He’s not waking up, not until we can reverse the curse.” Rowena told the two men.

“What? That can’t be it. We have to be able to do _something_.” Dean said. 

“The only person who can reverse it fully is the one who cast that curse on the angelblade in the first place, so I suggest finding the one who did it.” Rowena said. 

“Then let’s get to it.” Sam said and started to walk away, only for Dean to grab him by the sleeve.

“How long until…?” He asked the witch. 

“If we’re lucky, two weeks, maybe three. The longer he stays like this the worse he gets.” Rowena said sadly. 

The hallway went quiet. Sam walked away to do research. Rowena opened the door to the infirmary, and Dean followed her inside. There was Alec, sleeping. He looked peaceful. 

“You can go help Sam and the others, I’ll stay here for a bit.” He said, making his way towards the sleeping shadowhunter. 

Rowena nodded and went out the door. Dean took a chair and sat down next to him, embracing the younger man. He stroked his hair and kissed his forehead. 

"What is it with you getting into trouble huh?" Dean whispered to the sleeping man with a smile while he continued to stroke the raven hair. "One of these days, you're gonna give me a heart attack… But that's okay." 

Dean looked at Alec and smiled fondly. He continued whispering.

"Did you know that I almost told you I loved you today? Though in the end I couldn't do it. Not like that. I know you must think I'm a total douchebag for leaving you hanging for so long, but you have to know I have my reasons. I want to trust you with my heart, but it's one of the few things about me that isn't completely broken yet, even after you took a stab at it. But the thing is, I don't trust easily, I've been through too much. And I know you don't know this, but I'm really trying Alec. So I want to make a deal. You get out of this alive, and I'll give us another shot. I'll put all of my trust and all of my love with you. Sound good? But first, you need to pull through, I need you to do that for me. Please, Alec." He whispered.

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

"Okay, so you came here, started a 'daylighter clan' and then what?" Sam asked Simon, extremely intrigued by the vampire's story. 

"I taught them about my world. You know the Shadow World? At first they wouldn't listen, you know. They thought it was weird that vampires were forbidden to do certain things. I guess they weren't ready for that kind of change." Simon said. 

"How did you convince them?" Jack asked, also listening intently.

"Well, apparently being a daylighter wasn't that special, you know how they can walk in the sun here and stuff? So anyway, turns out being a daylighter means something else here. I'm stronger somehow, and I'm immune against both holy water _and_ dead man's blood. Plus no one here can use encanto, so when I proved all of these things they practically worshipped me and _then_ they listened! It was crazy. So anyway I spent these years forming a clan that would actually, you know, show respect for mundanes. No one in my clan drinks human blood for example. Only animal blood." The vampire rambled on, both Sam and Jack listening with interest. 

"Fascinating…" Sam thought out loud. 

"What's fascinating?" Dean asked, walking into the library. 

"Simon was just telling us about what it means to be a daylighter in this world." Sam answered his brother. 

"Okay, and…?"

"He's immune to both holy water and dead man's blood. And he can use something called encanto." Jack filled him in. "What's encanto?" He then asked. 

"Mind control." Simon responded with a smile.

"I have to document this." Sam said mostly to himself.

"Have you used it on any of us?" Dean asked sternly, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"No, and I won't, I mean it's a huge responsibility." Simon said, raising his hands placatingly. 

"Hm. I believe you." Dean said. 

"How's Alec?" Simon asked. 

"Yeah, right. About that, like Rowena already told me and Sam, Alec’s not going to wake up. He’s slowly fading away and he’ll die unless we find the one who cursed the angelblade." Dean said and sat down at the table. 

"Shit, it’s like the parabatai thing all over again… So, are you guys, like, mystery solvers or something? Like the Scooby gang? Or maybe more like Sherlock? Or what is it exactly you guys do? Alec said you were hunters, did he mean like some sort of Shadowhunters?" Simon peppered them with questions and Dean stared at him in exasperation.

"Well no, not exactly like that… Me and my brother are human, or mundanes I guess you would say. We’re what they call hunters in this world, we hunt monsters and such. Jack here is a nephilim and the guy in the trench coat is an angel." Sam explained with an awkward smile. 

"Okay… But you do solve mysteries right? Because if what you're telling me is true, then Alec's life is literally in your hands." Simon said with a look of worry. 

"Don't you think we know that?" Dean snapped, but then took a deep breath. 

"I get it, I'm worried too, so maybe we should try working this out. What do we know so far?" Simon asked. 

"Well, we have no idea who this person is or why they cursed the weapons in the first place. All we know is that it is an old curse. We're talking at least a century." Dean said and rubbed his face. 

"That's not a lot to go on…" Simon thought out loud. 

"He's right Dean. I think it's time we called in the big guns." Sam said and Dean nodded.


	8. The A team

By "the big guns" Sam meant the Winchester's own A team. This included Mary, Bobby, Charlie (who reluctantly agreed to help), and Rowena. They needed to pull everyone together for this, seeing as the matter at hand was extremely time sensitive. They had tried to contact Madzie but still hadn't gotten ahold of her. 

At the moment Charlie and Rowena were working on translating some old spellbooks and Mary and Bobby were sitting in the library reading, Sam joining them while researching online. Jack and Simon were sitting in the kitchen, taking a break. Dean and Cas were by the map table, setting up boards for the case, pictures and important notes were pinned up, strung together with red yarn. 

“Do you have the list Rowena made of possible witches and warlocks?” Dean asked the angel who nodded and gave him a piece of paper. “Thanks.” He said and read the names.

“There are a lot of names on there, so I suggest we try to narrow them down.” Castiel said in his stoic voice. 

“Yeah… Maybe start by checking who’s alive and who’s not…” Dean thought out loud while he read the list. 

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

Several hours later Simon was about to start on his third book of research, when Charlie ran into the kitchen. 

“Come on! We’re all gathering by the boards.” She said and signalled them to follow her.

Simon and Jack shared a look, then got up from the table and rushed out to the boards. When they got there, the others were sitting around the large map table, all focus on Dean who stood by the boards. Simon took a seat near the front and waited patiently for Dean to speak. He found this whole “briefing thing” oddly exciting. 

“Is that everyone? Good.” The green eyed man said. “We have narrowed down the list of potential witches and warlocks powerful enough to cast the curse, the list provided by Rowena. We have managed to get it down to three names, all of them alive, powerful, and willing to help angels with something likes this.” He continued. 

There were three pictures on one of the boards with a name under each picture, names Simon didn’t recognize at all. He looked around, no one seemed to have any sort of reaction to the pictures. All except for the red haired witch of course, but she was the one who had given them the list in the first place so Simon wasn’t all that surprised.

“Well, are you sure it has to be someone who  _ wants _ to help the angels? Maybe they were forced to it, or blackmailed?” The older redhead asked.

“We did think about that. But we decided to filter it like this now. We’ll work the leads and if they don’t pan out we’ll widen the searchfield.” Castiel said. 

“Okay, sounds good. But who do we start with? And where do we look?” Sam asked, brows furrowed. 

“We’ll start with the most likely. Osiris Myrddin.” Dean said.

Everyone nodded and waited for Dean to continue. When he didn’t Simon asked. 

“Well, where do we look for this Myrddin? I mean, great that we think it’s him, but for all we know he could be on the other side of the globe, and you guys really don’t have portals or warlocks like that in this world right? So what if he is on the other side of the globe? How do we get to him? And speaking of which, who are going? Are we all going? I don’t really get your plan here. I’m not saying it’s bad or anything, more like-” He rambled and Dean cut him off. 

  
“Do you  _ ever _ stop talking?” He asked in exasperation. “I have a plan, I’m getting to it.”

“Okay.” Was all Simon said, feeling a little uncomfortable under Dean’s glare.

“Thank you. Like I said, Myrddin is the most likely one to have cast the curse, because he have made deals with angels in the past. He’s also the most powerful one on the list,  _ and _ he’s famous for his curses in specific. Regarding his location, there are rumours among the witch community that he’s been spotted just a few states over. I’m leading the mission, and I’m taking Sam and Charlie.” Dean said and looked to the others. 

“What about me? I want to go too.” Simon said and crossed his arms over his chest. 

“Fine, you can come. But stay out of the way.” Dean said and rubbed his face. He didn’t have the energy to listen to another one of the vampire’s ramblings, so he just gave in. “Just, eat before we go, we don’t need you snacking on any of us when you’re getting hungry.” Dean said with a smirk. 

“Funny. But yeah, good point.” Simon said and left for the kitchen.

“He keeps his blood in the kitchen? Where we eat?” Dean asked in slight shock. 

“Where else would you refrigerate blood?” Sam asked.

“Gross.” Dean said with a shiver and his face scrunched up in disgust. 

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

When the Winchesters, the computer geek, and the vampire rolled into the town where the rumours stated held the warlock they were looking for, they decided to check with the townsfolk first. They split up into pairs, Charlie with Dean and Simon with Sam. Dean dragged Charlie to a nearby diner while Sam and Simon walked around the streets and went into different shops, showing people the picture they had of Myrddin. 

“So, why the diner?” Charlie asked as Dean dragged her to a booth. 

“Food.” He helpfully stated. 

“Shouldn’t we be asking people about Myrddin?” She asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Nah, Sam and Simon will probably find something.” He said and looked over the menu. 

“Wow. You’re helpful…” Charlie stated and looked at her own menu. 

“They have cherry pie!” Dean exclaimed happily. 

Charlie looked at him, then said “Yeah you’re right, they’ll be fine!” 

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

Meanwhile, on the other side of town Sam and Simon still had had no luck in finding anyone who recognized the warlock. 

“Maybe he’s glamoured?” Simon thought out loud. 

“Glamoured?” Sam asked with a questioning look. 

“Right, I guess you don’t really have it here. It’s like cloaked, you know, like in Harry Potter without the piece of fabric.” Simon explained and Sam nodded. 

“You know, we call it something else here, but I wouldn’t put it past a warlock this powerful to pull something like that off. But he has been seen by witches, otherwise the rumours are false.” Sam said and went into deep thought. 

“But why would someone just make up a rumour like that? What’s in it for them?” Simon asked. 

“I don’t know… But we’ll keep looking, there must be a clue somewhere around here.” Sam said and Simon nodded.

“I wonder if the others have got anything.” Simon said, looking at the taller man.

“I’m guessing they got nothing, I saw Dean walk towards the diner earlier.” Sam said with a laugh. 

“So he just bailed?” Simon asked incredulously.

“Nah just eating before working. Trust me, you  _ don’t _ want to go on a hunt or do research with Dean on an empty stomach.” Sam said with a chuckle. 

“Noted.” Simon said and kept walking the pavement, showing the picture of Myrddin to a person walking by every now and then. 

“I wanted to ask you. You said this was like the parabatai thing all over again. What did you mean?” Sam asked curiously. 

“Oh, that. See, Jace was sort of kidnapped by Valentine, but it was more like a voluntary kidnapping, I mean Jace went with him on his own, but he only did so because he thought he was turning evil. Anyway, he was held above a body of water, right, so no one could track him. Then Clary’s mom came and showed Alec this old rock, right, and said that Alec could track Jace with the rock and their parabatai bond.” Simon rambled and then continued.

“And of course Alec tried it, because he was so worried about Jace and he couldn’t think straight, so he tracked him, but accidentally his soul or whatever got stuck between him and Jace somehow. The only way to put him back together was for Jace to bring his soul back, which he did eventually. But before that Magnus was the only one keeping him alive. He was unconscious, you know, and there were a lot of complications at first but Jace did get there in time before Alec’s soul slipped away so it all worked out.” Simon explained in ramblings and Sam listened intently. 

“I see. Well I guess it’s sort of like that now, Alec’s unconscious and we need to find a specific person to heal him.” Sam said with a smile to the vampire. “Hey, what’s that?” He then asked, pointing to a brick wall where something was shimmering.

“I don’t know. Do you mean the wall or that shimmering thing?” Simon asked.

“The second one…” Sam said and walked closer, narrowing his eyes to see better what was reflecting so strongly. It was like staring into the sun. 

“Sam, no! Don’t touch it!” Simon called out. 

Sam pulled his hand away quickly.

“Why can’t I touch it?” He asked the vampire, but he got no answer. 

He turned around, but the vampire was gone. And so was the wall, and the pavement, and the people. All he could see were meadows, an ocean, and a thick, green forest.  _ What the hell? _

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

Dean had just finished his pie when Simon came bursting into the diner. Dean and Charlie looked at him alarmingly as he stood by their booth. 

“Sam, shimmering, gone, help.” The vampire got out. 

“What? You’re not making any sense.” Charlie said, looking at him. 

“There was a shimmering light, and he touched it, I told him not to touch it but it was too late, and now Sam’s gone. He just vanished into thin air, I looked everywhere, but he’s gone. We have to go after him!” Simon tried to explain. 

Dean quickly threw some money on the table and pushed past Simon.

“Show me where!” He called out and Simon and Charlie followed him out of the diner. 

Simon lead them to the wall where the shimmering light still was shining bright. 

“What, so he just touched it and disappeared?” Dean asked, inspecting the light. 

“Yes! It was crazy, and I don’t know how but he did, and it did. I don’t really know what’s going on, I’ve never seen anything like it, I mean-” 

“Simon. Shut up and calm down. I think I know what it is.” Dean said, now looking at the other two. 

“Well, what is it?” Charlie asked. 

“I think it’s a rift. It’s extremely small, but it has the same light.” Dean explained to them. 

“Well, then we have to go after him.” Charlie said and before anyone could react she had touched the light and disappeared. 

“What the hell?” Simon said with raised eyebrows.

“It’s a rift alright. Simon, I’m going in. I need you to call Cas and tell him what happened, okay?” Dean told the vampire who nodded. 

  
He then touched the rift and disappeared too. Dean felt the familiar drop of his stomach when he entered the rift and landed on the other side. What he was met with was water. Everywhere.  _ What the hell? _


	9. A magical time

Dean swam to the surface, seeing Charlie’s head bobbing over the water. 

“Did you see Sam?” Dean shouted over the waves. 

“No. Let’s swim to shore.” Charlie said and they started to swim to the nearby beach. 

When Dean got up he was met with a very dry Sam. Then he heard a splash behind him, and Simon was in the water. Figures he’d tag along.

Charlie was staring around the area. On the other side of the beach was a forest. It was beautiful. The trees were greener than anything she’d seen before, and the sun was high in the blue sky, making the water sparkle. There was a meadow far off to their left, with hills and grass that looked very soft. It all felt familiar somehow. Like she’d seen something like this before, or imagined it perhaps. 

“Charlie, what is it?” Sam asked. 

“I know this is going to sound crazy, but I recognise this place… Or well, not the place specifically, but the way everything is put, and the colours… Can’t you see it?” The redhead asked them. 

“I think I know what you mean. It’s like a memory or something. I haven’t felt this feeling since I was a kid.” Dean said, a smile forming on his face. 

“I can feel it too.” Simon stated when he was on land, and Sam nodded in agreement. 

“Okay, great. But what do we do with that information?” Sam asked. 

“Nothing really. But we should try to figure out what type of place this is.” Charlie said. 

“No, we should find the warlock.” Sam said. 

“You think he’s here?” Dean asked his brother.

“Well it makes sense, if he was spotted exiting or entering that rift.” Sam said.

“And how do you propose we find him if we don’t even know where we are?” Charlie asked.

“Fair point. Let’s head to the forest, see if we can find some clues in there.” Dean said.

“Is the forest really such a good idea? We don’t know what’s in there.” Simon said. 

“It’s better than to be out in the open, in case we need to hide.” Sam said, and they all agreed. 

So to the forest they went. They walked for about an hour without finding anything that might indicate where they were, or what type of world this was. All they knew was that the trees were a rich green, and they had met no other living creatures. Not even birds were heard in the treetops.

“I think this is the 4th time I’ve seen that tree, we’re walking in circles.” Sam exclaimed. 

“Dammit. Well, we’ll just carve an X into the trees we pass.” Charlie suggested. 

  
“That’s what I’ve been doing, but they seem to disappear.” Dean said. 

“That’s weird. Do you mean the trees are healing themselves?” Simon asked, trying to figure out the situation. 

“Maybe.” Sam said and looked around. He spotted something. “Hide!” He called out to the others and they did. 

They could hear singing, or chanting maybe. It was a karavan of people. Knights on horses, and a horse-drawn carriage. They happily sang while they made their way past the hidden group, and when they were out of sight and earshot the group went out onto the path again, staring after the karavan. 

“Did we end up in the middle ages somehow?” Dean asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“No. Didn’t you see what they were wearing? Three crowns. Don’t you get it? We’re in King Arthur! That’s why the place feels so familiar…” Charlie told them, and all eyes widened.

“What do you mean King Arthur? Do you mean like the fairytale?” Dean asked.

“Yes, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table! It’s one of the most famous fairytales there are, that’s probably why we all felt familiar with the place. And I think we’re here because, who was the warlock that put the sword in the stone in the first place?” Charlie asked.

“Merlin. What does that have to do with anything?” Simon asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Myrddin… It’s Welsh for Merlin! I thought it was just a crazy coincidence.” Sam said and sighed.

Dean glared at his brother.

“What?” Sam asked.

“Since when has anything we’ve ever done been coincidental?!” Dean snapped. 

“So what do we do?” Simon asked.

“We find that stupid warlock…” Dean said and started to walk away. 

“Uhm… They went that way.” Charlie said and pointed to the opposite direction as Dean was walking. 

Dean just turned around and walked to where Charlie was pointing without a word. 

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

“Wow…” Simon said, but they were all thinking it. 

“So this is Camelot?” Sam asked and Charlie nodded. 

“So, do we just go in or…? Because it feels like a bad plan, you know? Just strolling casually into a castle full or armed guards and knights with swords and-” Simon said.

“No. We need a plan.” Dean interrupted the vampire. 

“We need armour, and we’re in a fairytale. How do you guys feel about a classic?” Charlie asked with a smile. 

A while later they were all dressed in chainmail and tunics, Charlie wearing a helmet to cover her face. They had classically knocked out some guards and stolen their armour. They walked into Camelot, Charlie whispering to them.

“Okay, I grew up on stories like this, let me do the talking.” 

No one questioned her and followed her into the throne room where King Arthur sat. Charlie kneeled before Arthur and the others followed suit. 

“His Majesty King Arthur of the round table. We come to you seeking audience with the warlock Merlin.” Charlie said in a deep voice.

“As do many, my Knight. What for do you seek this audience?” The king asked and waved for them to stand, which they did. 

“We seek his knowledge for a spell that has been cast on a dear one.” Charlie said and the king looked at her in amusement. 

“Very well. You are not the first, nor shall you be the last to seek the great Merlin for his wisdom. I do however require an offering.” The king said and they froze. 

“An offering, His Majesty?” Charlie asked.

“Yes. An exchange. There is a dragon up in the snowy mountains that has been bothering the villagers. The dragon’s heart for Merlin’s location.” He explained. 

“How does His Majesty propose we get the dragon’s heart?” Dean asked with slight sarcasm, making Charlie glare at him through her helmet.

“It should not be a difficult quest for four brave knights, now should it?” The king asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Of course not. We will bring the heart for His Majesty.” Charlie said and kneeled again, the others mimicking her yet again. 

Once outside of the castle Dean spoke. 

“I get that we are in a fairytale, but we don’t have time for mythical quests! We need to find Merlin,  _ now. _ ” He said, clearly annoyed. 

“And this is the fastest way to do it. We have no idea where Merlin is or where to even start looking without the king’s help.” Charlie told him. 

“I could just make him tell us without any side quests.” Dean said with a mean smile. 

“No, Dean. She’s right. We can’t just barge in there and make him do anything, did you see how many knights and guards there were? If they attacked, we’d lose.” Sam told his brother who rolled his eyes. 

“Fine. Where’s the snowy mountains then? Let’s get this done quickly, Alec’s life is depending on us.” Dean told them. 

Charlie pointed to a snowy mountaintop some distance away. It was at least a day’s walk. Dean rolled his eyes and started for the mountain, the others following him.

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

When they reached the mountain there was snow everywhere. They trudged through the deep snow, shivering visibly at the cold. 

“I thought at least we wouldn’t freeze in a fairytale. Oh God, are we going to freeze to death? Is that possible?” Simon asked in a worried voice.

“No, or well, I don’t think so…” Charlie said a little unsurely, teeth clattering. 

“Great. So either we get burnt up by some dragon while trying to retrieve its heart, or we end up human popsicles. I’m liking our odds on this one.” Dean said sarcastically. 

“We’re not going to freeze to death, it’s not even that cold.” Sam told them.

After trudging through snow for about an hour or two, they could see a cave in the distance. 

“It has to be there.” Charlie said and pointed towards the cave. 

“Good, let’s hurry up then!” Dean said and picked up the pace. 

Simon felt like his toes were going to freeze off, but when the others rushed towards the cave he went after them. When they stepped into the cave it was suddenly a bit warmer, and Simon started feeling his toes again. They looked around after the dragon but it was dark inside the cave, and it only got darker the further in they went. 

“Anyone got a lighter or something?” Dean asked. 

“No but I think I got some matches here somewhere…” Charlie said and went through her pockets. “Bingo!” She said and pulled out a box of matches. 

Simon was walking along the wall, looking around. He thought he saw something move further in, so he walked closer to check it out. When Charlie managed to light a match it illuminated the cave well enough for Simon to see that he was now face to face with one of the smallest, cutest dragons he’d ever seen. 

“Ah, look guys! The dragon is so tiny, and cute.” He said, smiling at the creature. 

The dragon was white with big, green eyes. It was about the same size as a collie and had tiny wings on its back and a long tail. It looked at Simon with a tilted head, then it opened its mouth and a large spiral of fire was let out, lighting up the whole cave and almost hitting Simon right in the face as he ducked in the last second. They all screamed in surprise. 

“What the hell?!” Dean exclaimed. 

“Someone get a sword! That’s the dragon!” Sam called out. 

“But it’s so tiny, and cute!” Charlie protested. 

“We still need its heart though, and that fire was neither tiny or cute!” Simon exclaimed and moved away from the dragon.

The dragon kept shooting spirals of flames at the three hunters and the vampire, the latter avoiding the flames in panic. 

“This is like India all over again!” The vampire exclaimed as he dodged a flame. 

Charlie managed to grab its wing from behind, trying to pin it to the ground of the cave.

“Sam, take the other wing!” She exclaimed.

Sam ran over and grabbed the other wing, and together they successfully pinned the dragon on its back to the ground. Dean took out a sword and placed it to the dragon’s chest. He was just about to stab it when he saw its fearful eyes. He removed the sword and put it away.

“I can’t. I’m not killing a living creature like this. We don’t even know if he’s done anything wrong.” Dean said.

“You have passed my test.” The dragon then said and they all froze in shock. 

The dragon wriggled out of Sam’s and Charlie’s grip and stood up, transforming into a man. 

“Okay, the snake in India definitely didn’t do that.” Simon said with wide eyes. 

“Merlin?” Charlie finally asked and the man smiled.

“Yes, my knight. I am the great Merlin. Why have you seeked me out?” Merlin asked. 

“What’s with the dragon thing? I thought we were on a quest?” Dean asked in annoyed voice.

“Only those with pure hearts will know my true location. You proved that you have one by showing mercy to the dragon.” Merlin casually explained. 

“Okay, drop the cryptic warlock act. We’re here about the cursed angelblades.” Dean said and scowled at the warlock.

“Oh. How did you find me?” The warlock asked in shock. 

“The rift in the brick wall where you were spotted. Led us right to you.” Sam said and stepped closer. 

“Dammit. I should’ve known this would happen. I’m sorry but I can’t help you. They wanted the nephilim dead, that was part of the deal.” Merlin told them.

“What deal? And why would the angels care about Alec?” Sam asked.

“Alec?” Merlin looked at Sam questioningly. 

“Yeah the one who was stabbed with that damn angelblade!” Dean snapped angrily.

“No. That’s not possible. That’s not his name.That means he’s an innocent… How far along is the curse?” Merlin asked with wide eyes.

“He’s in a coma, marks reaching down to his collarbone.” Dean said. 

“Then he has little time left! You need three things for the counterspell. You need the blood of his sire mixed with the tears of his first love shed over him, and you must, and this is very important, you must mix it in the cup of J-”

But he could not finish his sentence, since his mouth and eyes filled with a bright, blue light. His body sank to the ground, eyes burnt out, and behind him stood Duma.


	10. Time sensitive

“RUN!” 

Disregarding whoever had said it, they all complied. All except Dean who raised his sword. The others could hear the cling of metal on metal filling the cave as Dean’s sword collided with Duma’s angelblade. Sam turned around just to see Duma cut Dean’s cheek with the cursed blade, and Dean stabbing her in the stomach with the sword. It wouldn’t kill her, but it bought them some time. They ran down the hills and into the forest, not stopping as they communicated.

“Where do we go?” Simon asked in panic. 

“The rift! We have to see if it’s still open!” Sam said.

“We landed in the middle of the water!” Charlie burst out.

“What?!” Sam panted incredulously as they ran. 

“Yeah why the hell did you think when we came out of the water?!” Dean asked him.

“I don’t know! I landed on the shore!” Sam answered.

“Then where’s the rift? Is it in the water or on shore?” Simon asked, out of breath. 

“Neither. The rift was almost closed when we went through, our energies probably closed it behind us, that would explain why we landed in different spots!” Charlie thought out loud as she threw her helmet off. 

“Fuck!” Dean said.

“Then how do we get out of here?!” Simon asked them.

“How did Duma get here?” Dean asked instead.

“I don’t-” 

Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and they all landed in a big pile of limbs and chainmail on the floor of the bunker.

“Ow!” Charlie said, being the first one to untangle herself from the group and standing up.

There was Jack, Cas, Mary, Bobby, and Rowena, staring at them either in shock or amusement. 

“What the hell!” Dean said and stood up as well, leaving Sam and Simon on the floor. 

“What just happened? Are we dead?” The vampire asked. 

“No. You’re back. I rescued you.” Jack said with a tilted head. 

“What? How did you know where we were?” Dean asked the nephilim.

“Well, Simon called me before entering the rift, so we did have your location. Then Sam prayed to Jack and said that Duma was there and the rift was closed, so he pulled you out.” Castiel explained as if it was obvious. 

“Okay. I’m not one to kick a gift horse in the mouth.” Dean panted out, lungs still burning, leaning against the stairs. 

“What are you wearing?” Bobby then asked since nobody else did.

The four looked down at themselves, suddenly remembering that they were still dressed in chainmail and tunics. 

“Right. I’m gonna go change, take a shower.” Sam said and walked towards his room. 

“I second that, then I think I need some calming blood-tea after that dragon almost burned my face off…” Simon said. 

“Dragon?” Mary asked with wide eyes. 

“Long story. I think we all need a change and a shower. Debriefing in an hour?” Dean asked and got some nods in response. 

“I think I’m gonna keep this, it’s perfect for cosplay.” Charlie said with a smile. 

An hour later they were all sitting by the boards, now in their own clothing and warmed up from the showers. Dean was up by the board, taking down the pictures of the other witches and warlocks and putting up a new note with the text  _ ‘cup of J?’ _ on it. Then he turned around to everyone. He had a long gash on his cheek from the angelblade, and butterfly bandaids keeping it together. He spoke.

“So, Myrddin, or more specifically,  _ Merlin _ was the warlock that cursed the angelblades. He mentioned it having to do with some deal with the angels, just as we suspected. But, when he spoke about a nephilim being hurt, he had no idea who Alec was. Theories?” He asked them all.

“Well that’s rather obvious, isn’t it? He was talking about Jack.” Mary said.

“My thought exactly.” Dean said. 

“So the angels want Jack dead? Why? Aren’t they like family or something?” Simon asked, a little confused. 

“No.” Cas and Jack said in unison. 

“Something you have to learn, Simon, is that in this world angels are sort of dicks.” Sam said with a crooked smile and Castiel nodded in agreement, much to Simon’s confusion.

“Oh. That sort of ruins my thought of heaven.” Simon said sadly. 

“No, heaven is actually great. Just not the angels. Except for Castiel.” Jack said with a kind smile. 

“Okay…” Simon said as he tried to wrap his head around this new information. 

“Anyway.” Dean interrupted. “The next question is, why did I not scream out like a banshee when I was cut with the cursed weapon?” 

“Because you’re human?” Sam guessed.

“Which means that, yes we can get hurt by the cursed angelblades, obviously.” He gestured towards his cheek. “But it doesn’t have the same effect on those of us who are not celestial.” 

“What does that mean for Castiel, then?” Mary asked with furrowed brows. 

“No idea. But to be sure, Cas, stay the hell away from those angelblades.” Dean said with a smile before he continued. “So, moving on… We got two of the ingredients that need to be mixed to cure Alec. The first being the blood of his sire, but since he’s not like Jack, he was born a nephilim,  _ by _ nephilim. Does that mean his father or the angel that created the shadowhunters?” 

“Father.” Mary, Jack, Simon, and Sam said. 

“Angel.” Charlie, Bobby, Castiel, and Rowena said. 

“Helpful, guys.” Dean said. 

“Well, there is no way to get the blood of his father, now is it? I think we need to get the blood of the angel and try with that.” Rowena said and they nodded in agreement. 

  
“But you said he was banished to earth and stripped of his wings. Is he still, you know, alive?” Sam asked Cas.

“Yes. He still has his immortality. We just need to find him, which won’t be as easy as it sounds. He detests angels.” Castiel explained.

“Okay, but it’s doable. What’s the next ingredient?” Rowena asked, looking at Dean.

“The tears of his first love, shed over him. That’s easy, Magnus.” Dean said. 

“You’re going to go to the king of hell and make him cry over Alec?” Charlie asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Not as hard as it sounds, Magnus is actually a very sensitive guy.” Simon added helpfully. 

“But you can’t tell him what you’re doing.” Rowena said.

“Why not?” Dean asked.

“When a spell requires tears like that they have to be real. The emotions of them holds the power needed. You’ll need to trick him into crying over Alec.” Rowena explained and Dean nodded.

“Alright. And that brings us to the third thing needed for the spell. The blood and the tears need to be mixed in a cup. Unfortunately, Duma killed Merlin just as he was about to tell us what cup. It was the cup of J. Something on J. We need to figure it out.” Dean said and pointed to the note on the board. 

“Okay, so we split up. Merlin said Alec didn’t have much time left.” Sam suggested. 

“Good idea. Sam, you go with Jack, Cas, and Simon to get the blood of Raziel, I’ll get the tears from Magnus, the rest of you try and figure out what cup he was talking about by the time we all get back. This is time sensitive. Go!” He barked out, earning a scolding look from his mother, but she let it slide. 

They all went their separate ways to do what they could to help save Alec.


	11. Trust the Winchesters

Sam, Simon, Jack, and Cas were walking along the streets in the nearby town.

“Where do we even start looking?” Sam asked Castiel. 

“I suppose we start where he landed when he was thrown out of heaven.” Castiel said thoughtfully. 

“And where was that?” Simon asked curiously. 

“Europe.” Castiel said.

“Okay… But where in Europe? That’s kind of vague.” Simon asked the angel.

“Where it all started. Where Idris was.” Castiel clarified. 

“Okay, but where in Europe was that?” Jack asked. 

“No one knows, that’s why it won’t be easy to find him.” Castiel said.

“Between Germany, Switzerland, and France.” Simon pulled from his memory. 

“You’ve been there?” Sam asked.

“Once. But I travelled through a portal, so I don’t know how to get there or exactly where they mean.”

“I suggest we go to the exact middle of those three countries then.” Sam said and they agreed. 

“How do we know he’s still there though?” Simon asked with raised eyebrows. 

“He was banished to earth and cursed to stay in the vicinity of what was once Idris. He can’t leave.” Castiel explained and the others nodded. 

“To Idris then.” Sam said. 

Jack grabbed ahold of the other three, and with a flutter of wings, they were gone. 

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

Magnus was sitting on his throne. He had just dismissed some demon minions when the doors opened again. At first he thought the minions had come back, but then he saw the green eyed hunter and rolled his eyes. Just as he was about to scold the man he did a double take and saw the expression of Dean’s face. Red flags shot up in his head. Dean had tears in his eyes, zero attitude, and walked slowly into the room, stopping before the throne where he sank to his knees. He didn’t look up at Magnus, he just looked down onto the ground and let his tears fall and stain on the floor.

Magnus had never seen the man like this, not even when Alexander had been kidnapped and he was there looking for help. It felt a little unnerving, seeing this hunter that always had such an attitude and who seemed to be so macho be disheveled like this. It actually reminded Magnus of Jace, the tough exterior that the blonde had always put on. But then he remembered that Jace had also looked like this before. Not often, but when it did happen, something big had happened. Something really  _ bad.  _ He looked at the hunter who wouldn’t meet his eyes. 

“A-A… “ The hunter croaked out, but Magnus didn’t understand. 

Magnus heard how broken the hunter’s voice was. Something was  _ definitely _ wrong. He dreaded what the hunter was trying to say. He knew it couldn’t be good, especially since he had come down here, to try and tell Magnus something. He was not ready for the next words that came out of Dean’s mouth. 

“A-Alec’s dead. The angels they- they killed him.” Dean said and now looked at Magnus, forest greens lined with red, filled with shiny tears. 

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

“So did he say the cup of J- or the cup of Jay?” Mary asked Charlie.

“J- like the sound. He was going to say something on J or G I guess.” Charlie responded, not looking up from the book she was reading. 

They had pulled out every volume that mentioned anything about a mythical or historical cup, chalice, goblet, and even bowl just to be sure. So far, nothing had anything to do with the J- sound.

“This is going to take forever.” Charlie finally said as she moved on to the next book. 

“So far I’ve read about the Holy Grail and the Mortal Cup.” Bobby said and sighed.

“Yeah, almost every single one of these mentions the Holy Grail, it’s like the most famous chalice of all time.” Charlie said. 

“No wonder, it’s  _ Christian _ , is it not?” Rowena said and rolled her eyes. “Don’t see a pagan cup in her anywhere…” She grumbled. 

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

Jack landed in the middle of a small town with his arms tightly around Castiel, Simon, and Sam. 

“Whoah!” Simon exclaimed happily, only to one second later feel sick to his stomach.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked him a little worried.

“Yeah I’m fine, I always got this way with portalling too. It’ll pass in a minute.” Simon assured him. 

“I can feel him. He’s here somewhere.” Castiel said and looked around. 

“So let’s go.” Jack said but Castiel put an arm out in front of him, stopping the nephilim in his tracks. 

“You and I should probably stay here. Raziel might flee if he was met with angelic beings. He still doesn’t like us very much.” Castiel said. 

“But you said he couldn’t leave here, right?” Simon asked. 

“It’s still a large stretch of land, we’ll be chasing him until the cows go to Rome.” Castiel said.

“That’s not…” Sam said but changed his mind, knowing that they didn’t really have time for a lengthy explanation of common English proverbs. 

“I get what you mean.” Simon said.

“Okay, so you stay here, we’ll just walk up to the angel Raziel and ask for his blood, if we’re not back in 30 minutes, come.” Sam said and Cas nodded.

“He’s somewhere that way. Fairly close.” Castiel said and pointed.

Sam and Simon started walking towards a small café where the angel had pointed. When they got there they peeked in through the windows. There was only one man inside, and he was sitting with his back towards them. 

“You think that’s him? It doesn’t look like an angel.” Simon said.

“You’d be surprised by the way some angels look, actually. Come on.” Sam said and walked in through the door, Simon following him.

They went up to the man and sat down at the table across from him. He gave them a weird look but didn’t say anything. Simon, as usual, broke the silence.

“Hi! My name is Simon, and this is Sam. I’m a vampire and he’s a hunter, I know, crazy right? Like a bad sitcom. Anyways, we’re here, uhm, because… I don’t know how else to ask this, but we need your blood.”

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

“This is ridiculous! There’s a whole volume here dedicated to the Holy Grail!” Rowena exclaimed.

“Then skip it.” Mary said in an annoyed voice. 

Rowena hadn’t shut up about the unfairness of religions for about 45 minutes, going through every little reason the pagans were better, and she had gone on and on about ‘the good old days.’ Everyone had stopped listening about halfway through. 

“Okay we get it!” Charlie exclaimed finally. 

“Why is this even an argument? The Holy Grail is not real. It’s a symbol for something unreachable, a treasure, or something. It’s mentioned in both King Arthur and Indiana Jones,  _ fictional stories _ .” Bobby then said, slamming his own book shut. 

“I beg to differ. Listen to this! The Holy Grail, or The Holy Chalice was the cup in which they gathered His blood at the crucifixion, and was also the vessel Jesus used at the Last Supper.” Rowena said matter-of-factly while reading the book. “Since we know for a fact that religion is real, I would argue that the cup is in fact, real.” She continued with a pointed look at Bobby who shook his head. 

“Wait, really? Do you mean the crucifixion of Jesus himself?” Charlie asked the other redhead. 

“Yes, why?” Rowena then asked with furrowed brows. 

Mary’s eyes widened along with Charlie’s. 

“Could, maybe, a different name for the Holy Grail be ‘the cup of Jesus’?” Mary asked and realisation hit the other two. 

“Genius!” Charlie exclaimed happily. 

“So what, the cup we’ve been looking for is the one mentioned in all of these book?” Bobby asked. 

“Oh thank God, that’ll make this a lot easier.” Mary said and started to divide the books into two piles, one for the ones mentioning the Holy Grail and one for the books that didn’t.

“Actually, this might be worse. There are so many different legends about the cup, we have to weed out which are referring to the Christian one, and which ones are referring to other objects, not to mention all the different theories about where it ended up, all the fakes, all the-” Charlie rambled on and on.

“Great.” Bobby interrupted, exasperated. 

“Oh, don’t fret. I strongly believe in us. We have at least one Winchester with us, I like our odds.” Rowena said with a kind smile. 

She had learned never to doubt a Winchester, and if you were on their side, you would always manage. 

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

“No. You can’t be serious. I would know if Alexander was dead.” Magnus said in disbelief. 

He didn’t want to believe the words coming out of the hunter’s mouth. His Alexander, dead. It couldn’t be. But judging from how the hunter looked, maybe it was true. 

“Magnus I-I’m so sorry.” The hunter said and Magnus snapped.

“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” He yelled, now standing up. His cat eyes were glowing. 

Dean flinched and looked down again. 

“Magnus, please. I didn’t-” 

“You’re a hunter! Aren’t you supposed to protect people?!” Magnus snapped again. 

He knew he shouldn’t blame Dean. If the angels killed him, that wasn’t his fault. He just felt the rumbling of all emotions at once. He didn’t know what to do. He sank down on his knees in front of the hunter. 

“You loved him. I thought he would be safe with you…” He cried out, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

Dean took a risk and embraced the king of hell. Magnus tensed but then just let himself go. He sobbed into Dean’s shoulder and Dean stroked his back soothingly with one hand and doing something else with the other.  _ What is he doing? _ Magnus thought, and before he could process it he had a small glass bottle on his cheek. He jerked back. 

“What the hell are you doing?!” He asked the hunter in shock.

The hunter simply closed the bottle and put it in his pocket. 

“I’m sorry Magnus, I had no choice. Alec’s in a coma, but he’s not dead. He’s alive.” Dean told him. 

Relief flooded Magnus at these words. Then realisation. Then anger. He stood up and gave Dean a furious look. 

“Why would you put me through that?! You know what Alec means to me, you…” He trailed off and Dean stood up, wiping his own tears. 

“I really am sorry. But this was the only way to save Alec. The curse has gotten worse, and the only way to heal him needed the tears of his first love, shed over him.” Dean explained regretfully. 

“And you couldn’t have just told me that?” He asked, still angry. 

“No. It had to be real.” Dean said.

“Oh. Well, though I am still not happy about the way you did it, I’m glad I could help.” Magnus told him, now calming down. 

“You did. Thank you.” Dean said sincerely, causing Magnus to give him a weird look. 

“So, this curse. Fill me in. How is Alexander?” Magnus then asked as he sat on the throne again, magically fixing his smudged makeup. 

Dean proceeded to tell him about what had happened, from when he was stabbed in the first place, filling Magnus in on the parts he didn’t know, and up until now when he lay in a coma like condition and what they were all doing in order to save the shadowhunter they had come to care so much about.


	12. Raziel

When Dean walked into the bunker after retrieving Magnus’ tears, he was met with loud voices. He carefully walked down the stairs and looked curiously at the people to whom the voices belonged. 

“Well we can’t just go to Europe! Especially since it’s not even the real cup! The real cup is here in North America!” He heard Charlie’s voice. 

“We don’t know which one of them is real, I say we cover all bases.” His mother’s voice was heard.

“I didn’t think any of them was real until a few hours ago so I’m stayin’ out of this one.” He then heard Bobby say.

“Alright, what’s going on?!” Dean asked the group when he had descended the stairs. 

They all looked at him in surprise, they hadn’t even noticed Dean entering the bunker. After a moment Charlie spoke. 

“The cup, it’s the cup of Jesus. Or as it’s also called, the Holy Grail.” She said and Dean’s eyes widened.

“As in  _ the _ Holy Grail, the one from Indiana Jones?” He asked.

“Well no, that’s just a movie. But there was a cup that Jesus had at the Last Supper, that’s the one we’re looking for. But there are  _ so many _ legends, it’s hard to track down the one that’ll work.” Charlie said.

“And that’s what you’re arguing about right now?” He asked and crossed his arms. 

“Well, yeah.” She said, looking sheepishly down at her shoes. 

“Here’s a crazy idea, split up!” He said, sending looks to each and every one of them. 

“A few of the legends claim it’s in Europe.” Mary said.

  
“Then just have Jack bring you there. Wait, where is he? And Cas, and Sam? Are they not back yet?” He asked, looking around.

“No, not yet.” Bobby said.

“Well that’s just fantastic…” Dean said and rolled his eyes.

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

Simon looked at the man who just sat there, stunned. He was wearing a trucker hat and a vest. He really did  _ not _ look like an angel in the vampire’s opinion.

“Okay then, I’m just gonna get my check and leave, you guys are completely insane…” The man said and signalled the waitress. 

“We’re not insane. We know what you are, more specifically  _ who _ you are, Raziel.” Sam said and looked pointedly at the angel. 

His eyes widened. The waitress came over and he seemed to change his mind. 

“Three coffees, please.” He said with a smile and when the waitress left he turned back to Sam and Simon. “Okay, busted. What do you want?”

“Your blood, I already told you.” Simon said before Sam could answer. 

“Yeah well I’m not giving you my blood. Especially not when I don’t know what it’s for…” The man said and gave Simon a weird look.

“Right, uhm. I’m not really sure where to start, but we have a friend who’s been cursed and is now in a coma, and we need your blood for a spell to cure him.” Sam explained. 

“Not to be rude, but why would I help you? You came here with two angels.” Raziel said and leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. 

Sam and Simon shared a look.

“What? You think I can’t pick up on their grace? I’m not completely useless just because I lost my wings.” Raziel said.

“Right. One’s a nephilim actually. Our friend who’s in a coma is a nephilim too.” Simon said and Raziel scoffed.

“Seriously? Why on earth would I ever want to help a nephilim?” 

“Because he’s not just a nephilim. He’s a shadowhunter.” Sam said seriously and locked his eyes on Raziel. 

The angel stiffened and looked at Sam with wide eyes. The waitress came to the table and put the coffees down, Sam gave her a thankful smile. 

“That’s not possible. You must be mistaken.” Raziel finally said. 

“It is. He came here through a rift on accident.” Sam said. 

“I’m from the Shadow World too, look.” Simon said and bared his fangs discreetly.

“Interesting… If what you’re telling me is true, God failed to erase all of my world.” Raziel said with a smile. 

“Well, yeah. Tons of downworlders got through.” Simon said. 

“Will you help us? Please?” Sam asked the angel.

He seemed to consider it for a moment.

“I will. But on one condition.” Raziel then said.

“What?” Sam asked suspiciously.

“When he is healed, bring the shadowhunter here, I want to see him.” Raziel said and leaned forward.

“Deal.” Simon said too quickly, and Sam gave him a look. 

Raziel snapped his fingers and was suddenly holding a vial of his blood in his hand. He gave it to Sam who put it in his pocket. 

“Your angelic friends are on their way over here. I suggest you go meet up with them. I’ll be waiting for the shadowhunter.” Raziel said, and then mumbled something neither of them could hear. 

Sam was just about to ask him what he had just done when the door to the café opened and Castiel and Jack walked in. Sam walked towards them and when he looked back to the table it was empty. He looked at Simon who just shrugged his shoulders, then he forgot completely about the mumbling and went out with the others to get back to the bunker.


	13. Not you again...

“Okay now that everyone’s back, I have managed to narrow the cups down to three possible choices. There’s one in Nice, one in Antwerp, and one in Denver, Colorado.” Charlie said to the group. 

“Denver?” Sam asked, a little surprised. 

“Okay, so Jack, you’re going to have to make two trips to Europe. Sam, Simon, and I will go to Denver, the rest of you can divide yourselves in whatever way you’d like. But we have to hurry, time’s running out.” Dean said and they all nodded in agreement. 

“Where in Denver, exactly?” Simon asked Charlie who looked at her paper. 

“It’s in the possession of a shaman named Sergei. I’ll get you the address.” Charlie told him. 

Simon nodded, Dean and Sam glared at her.

“What?” The redhead asked.

“Sergei has it? Well that’s just great!” Dean burst out.

“You guys know him?” Charlie asked surprised.

“Let’s just say we’ve got history…” Sam said and walked towards the stairs. 

“Okay then.” Simon said a little unsurely and followed Sam.

“We’ll all meet back here in 12 hours. Be safe.” Dean said to Charlie who gave him an encouraging smile. 

“You too.” She said. 

Dean walked up the stairs and out to Baby. Sam and Simon were already in the car. It was about a 6 hour drive to Denver, but Dean thought he could make in 5 at least. He got in the car and started the roaring engine. 

“Do you want me to drive?” Sam asked as Dean took a particularly sharp turn. 

“No I’m good.” Dean said without taking his eyes off the road. 

“You’re not good, Dean. I’m not blind. You’re angry.” Sam said to his brother. 

“I’m not angry, Sam.” Dean told him.

“Well, something’s up.” Sam shot back.

“Yeah your speed, if you don’t slow down a little, we might all die. And I’d rather not do that again.” Simon said while he leaned forward toward the front seats. 

Dean exhaled and slowed down, just a little bit. 

“We’re going to make it. We’re going to save Alec.” Sam said to Dean. 

“See, you don’t know that. For all we know, we might already be too late.” Dean said stoically, keeping his eyes on the road. Neither Sam or Simon said anything, they just looked at the road.

When they arrived in Denver at the address given to them by Charlie, they found themselves at a mansion. They parked in the driveway and walked up to the huge front door. There was a large knocker, and Dean banged it against the door. When it opened, they were met with a familiar face. 

“The Winchesters. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Sergei asked them, looking very unimpressed. 

“The Holy Grail. We heard you have it.” Dean said, cutting straight to the chase. 

“You had better come in, hunters. Bring the vampire too, the sun will be up soon.” Sergei said and stepped to the side. 

Simon decided not to mention the whole Daylighter thing, best to keep it to himself. Apparently, Sam and Dean thought so as well. When they walked into the house Sergei led them to a drawing room with two sofas and gestured them to sit down. The three sat down on one and Sergei sat on the one opposite.

“For what do you need the Holy Grail?” The shaman asked them.

“A spell.” Dean said. 

“I figured as much. I am interested in what type of a spell would require such a powerful artifact.” He said plainly, sipping on a cup of tea.

“Does is matter?” Dean asked him and raised an eyebrow challengingly. 

“Hm. No, not really. It depends on what you’re offering me.” Sergei said and put the cup down on a small table that resided between the sofas. 

“What do you want?” Sam asked. 

Sergei looked at all three of his guests, eyes lingering on Simon.

“You, who are you?” He asked and Simon looked a little nervous.

“I’m Simon. Lewis. I’m from Brooklyn.” He said.

“Not from this Brooklyn though, am I right?” Sergei asked him and Simon shook his head.

“No, not really. I’m from another dimension, one that doesn’t exist anymore. I’ve been to this Brooklyn though, it’s very nice and all, kind of looks like my version but not quite, I guess a few things didn’t go as they did then or… I don’t know.” The vampire said with a nervous smile.

“You do talk a lot, don’t you?” Sergei said with a smile, though it was unclear if it was amusement in it or something else. 

“He does.” Dean said and looked between Simon and Sergei. 

“I will not just give you the cup, but I will lend it to you. For a prize of course.” He then said, fiddling with his teacup. 

“We don’t really have a lot of money, but I think I can scrounge up some, we have relics at the clan and-” Simon said but was interrupted.

“I do not want money.” Sergei said.

This was a known fact for Sam and Dean. The shaman never wanted money, he wanted favours or objects. 

“Just name your prize.” Sam said. 

“Him.” Sergei said and nodded towards Simon. 

“Excuse me?” Dean said and narrowed his eyes. 

“Do you not think I know the name Simon Lewis?” Sergei asked rhetorically. “Leader of the Daylighter clan, the vampire who knows the encanto spell. He could be useful to keep around.”

“We’re not trading our friend!” Sam burst out in disbelief. 

“Well friend is a strong word, but you’re not getting the vampire.” Dean then said. 

“Then no deal.” Sergei said and was just about to stand.

  
“Is there  _ anything _ else?” Dean asked and Sergei stopped and then sat down again. 

“Well, to borrow the Holy Grail there comes a great prize. There is one object that would suffice, if you are so keen on keeping your bloodsucking pet.” Sergei told them.

“Hey, I’m not a-” Simon argued.

Dean put his hand in front of Simon to shut him up.

“Name it.” Dean said, looking seriously at the shaman.

“Your demon-killing knife.” Sergei told him.

Dean closed his eyes hard. He loved that knife, but if it was between it and the vampire, he knew what the right thing to do was, even though he hated it. He reminded himself that it was all for Alec, and he knew that the nephilim was never going to forgive him if he traded away the vampire.

“Fine.” He said with a clenched jaw.

Sergei smiled smugly, Sam looked at his brother with wide eyes, and Simon just sat there, wondering what was going on, but thankful that he wasn’t traded off as a pet.


	14. The cup

Dean walked down the stairs in a hurry. The others were already back, thank God. 

“How is he? Is he still alive?” He asked Rowena. 

“Yes, but we need to do this now. Did you get the cup?” She asked and Dean nodded, handing her the cup.

“We only borrowed it, so we have to return it to Sergei afterwards.” Sam said.

“We’ll deal with that later.” Rowena said and put the cup down on a table in the library, where two others just like it already stood. 

The three cups were exact copies of each other, so Charlie had put little post its in front of them so that they could see which was which. They were all golden, with rubies lining the edges. They looked ancient, as they were, but in perfect condition. 

“How do we know which is the real one?” Simon asked and looked at them. 

“I will try to figure it out with magic.” Rowena explained.

She started to mix up something in a bronze bowl, puffs of smoke coming up every now and then.

“This is going to take an hour at least, you don’t all have to stand here just waiting.” The witch said and they all scattered.

Mary and Bobby went out for a walk, Charlie assisted Rowena, Simon and Jack went to Jack’s room to watch a movie, and Castiel went off to God knows where. That left Sam and Dean in the kitchen, drinking scotch. They sat in silence for a long while before Sam decided to address the elephant in the room. 

“I know you’re scared, Dean. It’s okay to be.” He said to his brother. 

Dean sighed heavily, downed the remaining liquid in his glass, and refilled it. 

“I know. I’m not denying it.” He said eventually. 

“Then what is it? I know something’s not right, but I can’t figure out what it is.” Sam said and sipped on his scotch. 

“It’s regret, Sam. That’s what this is. That’s why I’m sulking and speeding and drinking.” Dean confessed. 

“What do you regret?” Sam asked with furrowed brows. 

“That I never told him. When Alec got kidnapped by those vampires I got this feeling in my chest, alright. I thought it was love, and that was all I thought about the whole time we were looking for him. And then we found him, safe and sound, and I wanted to tell him.” Dean said, tears starting to burn behind his eyes. “But then I thought that maybe that feeling was just worry, so I kept my mouth shut. Then he collapsed and went into a fucking coma! And now he might die! And I figured out that it was love… I love him Sammy, and I never told him and now it might be too late, he will never know because I was stupid and stubborn and it’s all my fucking fault!” Dean burst out, tears running down his face. 

“Hey. It’s not your fault, you didn’t know.” Sam tried to comfort but Dean wouldn’t have it. 

“Of course it is, Sam! This isn’t just a regular curse, it’s the Winchester curse! Everyone close to me dies, or worse. Whatever happens now is on me, and I can’t… I just can’t…” He said, putting his head in his hands. 

“It’s not your fault.” Someone said from the opening of the kitchen. 

Sam and Dean startled and looked up. There was Madzie, a sad look on her face. 

“Dean, it’s not your fault.” She repeated and walked up to him. 

She looked him straight in the eyes with her hands on his shoulders, then she hugged him. Sam watched the scene in shock. When Madzie let go of Dean she took a seat at the kitchen table. 

“Castiel came to find me. I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner, I was held up with something and I had missed your messages.” She explained to the hunters. 

“I’m glad you’re here now.” Sam said with a smile. “Did Castiel tell you all that happened?”

“He did. And from everything I’ve heard, this is none of your faults. It’s those angels. They need to be stopped.” She said on a more serious note. 

“Agreed. We’ll figure it out, but we have to save Alec first.” Sam said and Madzie nodded.

“And we will. I’ll go see if I can be of any assistance to Rowena.” Madzie said and stood up, but before she left she looked at Dean. “I just wanted to say that I heard all of what you said earlier, and I know I wasn’t your biggest fan the last time we saw each other, but my dad is lucky to have you love him like that.” 

Dean shot her a thankful smile and she left the kitchen. Sam looked at his brother with furrowed brows, still worried but slightly less so than before. 

Later when they went out into the library again Rowena and Madzie were finishing up the spell and Charlie was taking notes. Jack and Simon were there too, watching with intent. Rowena mumbled a few words in Latin and then she flicked her wrists and turned to the brothers. 

“Perfect timing, boys! The good news is, I’ve figured it out.” She said with a smile. 

“That’s great, which one is it?” Sam asked.

“It’s this one.” Rowena said and picked up the one they had borrowed from the shaman.

“Figures.” Dean said and raised an eyebrow. 

“How could you tell?” Sam asked and inspected the cup. 

“Well, the one from Belgium was just a regular chalice, no magic at all. The one from France however…” Rowena said and shared a look with Madzie. 

“What about it?” Dean asked and crossed his arms. 

“It’s cursed.” Madzie told them.

“How so?” Sam asked.

Rowena proceeded to grab ahold of Simon’s arm and stuck him inte the finger with a needle, making a prick of blood appear, she then held the cup from France under his hand and let his blood drop down into it. 

“Hey! What are you doing?!” He asked alarmingly.

“Oh, don’t be scared. I’m just demonstrating the curse.” Rowena said with a smile. 

She held the cup and said something in Latin, then she turned to Simon.

“Raise your right hand.” She told him, and he did. “Now say: I talk too much.”

“I talk too much.” He said, and immediately after he put his hand to his mouth, surprised at the words that had just come out. 

Everyone’s eyes widened.

“What the hell?” Sam said and looked to Rowena. 

“Did you just curse me?!” Simon asked in fear.

“Just for a while. This cup controls whoever’s blood is in it. It’s actually a very clever weapon.” The redheaded witch explained with a smile. 

“Alright, but you said that the good news was that you figured it out, what’s the bad news?” Dean asked her, dreading the answer. 

“It’s deactivated.” Madzie filled them in. 

“What do you mean deactivated? How do we activate it again?” Dean asked in confusion.

“There are trials. Mental ones.” Charlie then said. 

“Fine, let’s do it.” Sam said. 

“It’s not that simple. And it’s dangerous, not only for the one to go through them, but for everyone around. It will light up a beacon of power that will go straight through the wards of the bunker. The angels will know exactly where we are.” Charlie explained to them with a worried look. 

“Then we let them come! We have to save dad!” Madzie burst out.

“We have two angelic beings here that could get seriously hurt if the angels decide to attack. They have cursed weapons, the ones that put Alec in a coma.” Sam said. 

“But we’ll have to deal with them either way, isn’t it best to just do it now when we’re prepared?” Charlie argued. 

“Enough!” Dean yelled and they all quieted down. “We don’t have time to stand here and argue while Alec is dying in the infirmary! I’m doing the damn trials,  _ now _ . Everyone else, be prepared to fight. Just get Jack and Cas away from here if it’s possible, otherwise, don’t get them stabbed. Understood?” He asked in an authoritative voice. 

The others nodded and started to gear up, preparing for the inevitable attack. 


	15. Let the trials begin

Dean decided sit in the infirmary to do the trials. Of what Charlie had managed to string together about these trials was that if he ever dropped the cup, or was disrupted in any way, the trials would cease and they wouldn’t get another chance to activate the cup. Charlie had made a circle out of holy oil around him and Alec and had left Jack to watch over them, ready with matches if the angels decided to come in.

“Remember, it’s all in your head.” Charlie said as her last encouraging words.

She really reminded Dean of the old Charlie, his friend, more and more every day. He smiled at her and closed his eyes, holding the cup out in front of him. 

  
“Accipio te iudicii.” He said loudly, and when nothing happened he opened his eyes.

He looked at Charlie, but she just shrugged. Then out of nowhere, he felt like a bolt of lightning struck him in the chest. He gasped, and his eyes turned completely white. Then the holy oil around them started to glow brightly, sending up a beacon through the ceiling. Charlie knew the trials had begun, so she went to tell the others to get ready.

“It’s starting.” She said when she got to the entrance.

Mary, Bobby, Sam, Simon, and Castiel got ready, Jack went into the infirmary. 

“Everybody ready?” Charlie then asked and raised her angelblade. 

“I was re-born ready.” Simon said with a cocky smile.

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

Dean found himself in a dark room. At first Dean thought he was in a basement, but he couldn’t see any walls, and it wasn’t damp like a basement would be. It was just darkness. He had no idea where he was going. A voice sounded. It was a deep voice, and it felt like it echoed in his head. 

_ Pick one. You must do all three. Fail one and fail all. _

He tried to figure out what the voice meant, but then he saw something light up further away in the darkness, but he was too far away to see what it was so he started walking towards it. When he got closer he saw that there were three blue doors, glowing in the light. They had weird symbols on them, something that Sam would probably recognize. He took a deep breath and walked through the first door.

When he stepped inside there was a similar dark room, no walls but it was visibly smaller. There was a red door at the other side of the room. He took two steps forward and got knocked back by something that shot down from the ceiling. At first he couldn’t see what it was, he could only hear its voice, and it sent chills down his spine. 

“One step at a time. You must earn every step.” It said. 

Dean stood up again and took one careful step forwards, and he was met with a black, furry spider-human hybrid. It looked deformed and had red eyes in all sizes, and a pair of snapping pedipalps hanging out from its mouth, drool dripping down on the floor. Dean felt bile in his throat but swallowed it down and looked away. He could feel its hot breath on him.

“How do I earn my steps?” He asked through gritted teeth.

“Riddle me this. When is a door not a door?” The spider creature asked him.

_ Great. Riddles.  _ Dean rolled his eyes.

“When it’s ajar.” Dean said and the creature laughed at him, but then slowly ascended towards the ceiling again. 

Dean took another step, dreading the return of the creature. He stood and waited but it didn’t come. Then he heard its voice from above him. 

“Poor people have it. Rich people need it. If you eat it you die. What is it?” It asked him.

Dean hadn’t heard this one before, so he thought about it. It took him a minute but he figured it out.

“Nothing.” He said and the creature laughed again.

Before he could take a step he saw that the door on the other side was now further away.

“Hey! What’s with the door?” He asked angrily.

“The longer you take the further the walk.” The creature simply said. 

Fuck, and Dean wasn’t especially good at riddles. He did take a step however and waited for the next riddle.

“Well, come on then!” He called out to the spider.

“The person who built it sold it. The person who bought it never used it. The person who used it never saw it. What is it?” It asked.

Shit, these riddles were getting harder. He needed to figure out another way to speed things up. He thought about the riddle. What would you use that you never saw? And someone else bought for you? Then it clicked.

  
“A coffin.” He said and waited for the now familiar laugh. 

When it came he leapt as far as he could. It never told him how big a step he could take after all, just that he could only take one. He saw the door closer this time.

“Smart man.” The creature said. “I know a word which reads the same when written forward, backward, or upside down. Tell me the word.”

Fuck, this was not his specialty. He thought over if he’d ever heard this one before. He stuttered as to answer but changed his mind. The longer he took the further the door seemed. He thought hard but the answer didn’t come to him. He heard the creature draw closer, and soon he felt its warm breath on his face again. He closed his eyes, not wanting to look into any of its eyes. He hated spiders… 

“I’m waiting. Tell me the word.” It said and some of its saliva got on Dean’s face. 

He took a deep breath and thought about the possibilities. There were always similarities between the words in riddles like these. And they had to start and end with the same letter. It was the upside down part that was tricky. He glanced towards the door, it was getting too far away. He blurted out his first guess, praying it was the right one. 

“NOON!” 

The creature laughed and ascended up into the darkness once again. Dean let out a breath of relief and leapt once again as far as he could. 

“Why is 6 afraid of 7?” It asked then, and Dean laughed. 

He remembered this from what Castiel had guessed when he had heard it. 

“Because 7 8 (ate) 9.” He said and leapt again.

“There was a plane crash and every single person died. Who survived?”

“The married couples.” He leapt.

“I always come down but never go up. What am I?”

“Rain.” Dean said and leapt again. 

One more and he would be at the door!

“I have no feet to dance, I have no eyes to see, I have no life to live or die, yet I do all three. What am I?” 

Dean thought for a second, then he answered.

“Fire.” 

The creature laughed again and Dean leapt to the door, smiling when he knew he’d made it. He tried to open the door but it was locked. He spun around.

“Hey! It’s locked!” He called out to the creature. 

“To get the key you must answer the final riddle.” The creature simply said. 

“Fine! Shoot!” Dean said angrily, getting tired of these damn riddles.

Suddenly, Dean found himself in a graveyard. It was spooky, fog clinging near the ground, the sky grey and dull. He saw a man in a trench coat and a hat standing by a tombstone. It was all very 50’s horror flick. Since the creature and the room were gone he walked up to the man. The man turned around and he saw that it was Alec! He tried to hug him but went right through. He was a little taken off guard, but he took a closer look at Alec. Ghost? Illusion?

  
Alec simply turned to him and looked, then back to the tombstone again. Dean looked at it, but it was blank. 

“Who’s in that grave?” Dean asked carefully.

“Brothers or sisters I have none. But that man’s father is my father’s son.” Alec said and pointed to the tombstone. 

“Who is in the grave, Dean?” He then asked and turned to look at him. 

Dean’s eyes widened. He had no idea what to say to that. He looked back at the tombstone, it was still blank. He thought and he thought and he thought, but he couldn’t figure it out. Was this even a riddle?

“Time’s running out Dean. Who’s in the grave?” Alec asked him again, face completely drained of emotion an his voice monotone.

That’s when it clicked. He didn’t want to say it, but he had to.

“It’s you.” He said, barely audible, with tears in his eyes.

Alec walked away without a word, and when Dean looked back at the tombstone, it wasn’t blank anymore.

**Here Lies**

**ALEXANDER GIDEON LIGHTWOOD**

**Cause of Death**

**MISPLACED TRUST**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Accipio te iudicii = I accept your trial


	16. Puzzles and Deals - part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sooooo sorry for the lack of updates on this story! After this week though my finals are finally over! Thank you all for still reading and commenting, you guys are the best! <3

There was a loud rumbling, causing everything in the bunker to shake. The alarms sounded, and the bunker was now filled with red, blinking lights. They all braced themselves for what they knew was coming. They were all spread out throughout the different rooms of the bunker, as they didn’t know where the angels would enter. 

It was in the entrance where Duma showed up with two other angels. It was also in the entrance where Castiel and Sam were. They spun around to look at the angel who was apparently leading the attack.

“Duma.” Castiel said.

“Castiel. Sam.” She greeted, signalling for the other two angels to stand down at the moment. 

“Why are you doing this?” Castiel asked the other angel, and she just laughed. 

“I do it because of why we do anything, Castiel. In the service of heaven.” She said.

“How is killing Jack in the service of heaven?” Castiel asked her with narrowed eyes. 

“It’s not about killing Jack. He’s just a small part of it. You wouldn’t understand. Not since you became so… Human.” She said with a sneer.

“Then explain it Duma!” Castiel raised his voice. 

“It’s the deal to save heaven. I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out already. It’s all about the deal.” She said with a smile.

“What deal?” Sam asked her.

“The one with Asmodeus and the empty.” She said.

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

Dean found himself in the small, dark room yet again, but now there was a silver key in the lock. He twisted it and walked out. He was in the first dark room again, and the first door had now changed its symbol. He braced himself for the second one, expecting something similar. He pushed the door open and stepped inside. Instead of the darkness of the first room, he found himself outside.

He felt the wind in his hair, it was cold. He looked around and saw that there was another red door further away, and it seemed to just stand there on its own. Between him and the door however, there was a large gorge in the ground, way too large to just jump over. It reached both ways as far as he could see. He knew he had to get to the door, but he had no idea how, and if it was like the previous room he needed a key to get through. 

He looked to the sides, there was  _ nothing _ there! That’s when he heard a scream. He quickly ran towards the sound. There were three people standing at the edge of the gorge. There was a young man, a woman, and an old man. He ran up to them and followed their line of sight, down the gorge.

“What happened?” He asked them. 

“My sister, she fell down and now she’s just hanging there!” The woman exclaimed. 

“We have to go! They’re coming!” The old man yelled and pointed to a bridge that was suddenly there. 

Dean let out a breath of relief. There was a way over. The question though, was how all of this was connected.

“Please, you have to save her!” The woman told Dean in panic. 

“We don’t have the time! They will be here in about 17 minutes!” The old man said again, gesturing towards his watch. 

Dean looked at the older man, what was coming? 17 minutes? He thought about just making a run for it, over the bridge and to the door. Then the young man interrupted his thoughts.

“Please, sir! If you help us, I’ll give you this!” The young man said and showed him a silver key. 

Ah, so that’s how he got it. Dammit… 

“What do you need help with?” Dean asked. 

“There is a whole army of monsters coming for us! Hundreds of them! They’ll be here in 17 minutes, and we all need to get to the other side of the bridge to cut the ropes so they can’t follow!” The old man explained and Dean nodded.

“Okay, so just run over, it can’t take more than 17 minutes.” He said with a raised eyebrow. 

“The bridge can only hold 2 people at a time.” The young man said. 

“Okay, so you two run, then we’ll run?” Dean suggested. 

“I’m not leaving my sister!” The woman said and crossed her arms defiantly. 

“And we only have one lantern!” The old man exclaimed.

“What do you need a lantern for?” Dean asked in confusion, and just as he did the sky turned black, leaving them in darkness.

“Fuck…” He breathed out. 

“I can walk over the bridge in 5 minutes.” The young man said.

“I need 10 minutes.” The old man said.

“I can do it in 2, and so can my sister.” The woman said.

“And you look like you can do it in 1.” The young man said to Dean. 

“We have 17 minutes and 30 seconds starting now before the armies get here!” The old man called out. 

Great. Another fucking puzzle. He needed to solve this, and get everyone safely over the bridge to get to the door with the key. How was he going to manage this?


	17. Puzzles and Deals - part 2

“What does that deal have to do with you, and Jack?” Sam asked Duma. 

“Everything. See, Asmodeus came to me a while ago with an interesting proposition. He said we could have our people back, hundreds of them! And all it would take was to kill the nephilim.” Duma told them and paced the bunker slowly, Cas and Sam on high alert. 

“Why would the empty trade Jack for hundreds of angels? And what did Asmodeus have to do with it?” Castiel asked with narrowed eyes. 

“Is it not obvious? Jack’s power is beyond  _ anything _ we’ve ever seen before. Everyone wants him on their side, heaven, hell, the empty. Of course, we were willing to give him up to save our kind.” Duma explained. 

“And Asmodeus?” Sam asked.

“He took part in the deal. He got Magnus Bane.” Duma said, clearly uninterested.

“And then you went and made a deal with a warlock to get weapons that could kill nephilim…” Sam said in realisation.

“Smart.” Duma said and smiled unkindly. 

“We’re not giving him up.” Castiel said through gritted teeth. 

“I know. That’s why we’re  _ taking _ him.” Duma said. 

And with that, a fight erupted between the angels and team free will.

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

“So you mean that the bridge can hold 2 people at once, you all need different times to cross the bridge, and the lantern must be carried with you every time you run back and forth?” Dean asked the old man who nodded.

He thought about it. It was a strategy puzzle. Whatever way he turned it, he was always a minute or so off, but he didn’t really have time to think about it as the old man spoke.

“17 minutes starting now!” The old man said and Dean just went with the first thought that popped into his head. 

He grabbed the lantern from the old man, grabbed the woman, and ran onto the bridge. She struggled a little but he pulled her with her. 

“I won’t leave my sister!” She exclaimed angrily.

“I know! I’m saving her! But I need you on the other side, you’re the fastest.” Dean explained, and finally the woman ran with him. 

2 minutes later they were on the other side of the bridge.

“Stay here!” He said and ran back in 1 minute.

He gave the lantern to the young man.

“You go with him and when you get to the other side, send that woman back with the lantern, you understand?” He told the young man who nodded.

He looked as they started walking over the bridge, the old man slowing them down. Then he went over to the edge and looked down, another woman was in fact hanging there, holding on for dear life. He looked around and saw a rope. He grabbed it and threw it down.

“Grab the rope! I’ll help you up!” He called down to her. 

The woman struggled, but managed to grab the rope and carefully tied it around herself. When she was ready, Dean pulled the rope with the woman, slowly hoisting her up from the gorge. When she got to the edge she crawled up it and collapsed in front of him, breathing heavily. 

“Thank you.” She panted, and Dean nodded in response. 

He looked at the bridge, the young and the old man were just getting to the other side, and he could see them handing the lantern to the woman on the other side. 

“She’ll be here in 2 minutes. If I did the math correctly, we should make it over just in time when she gets back.” Dean said. 

“But the bridge can only hold 2, which one of us are you taking?” She asked. 

Shit. Right. He had forgotten about that. It was in moments like these he cursed his own hero complex… 

“I’ll send you 2 over then. I’ll try to sprint across once you’re safe.” He said.

“What? No, that’s not how the puzzle is played. You won’t make it over.” She said in horror.

“I’ll manage. Go with your sister, I’ll be fine.” Dean said just as the other woman arrived. 

He pushed the woman to her sister.

“Go!”

They went. He followed the lantern with his gaze. They were halfway over. He took a starting position. He heard noises behind him, the monsters. The sisters were almost there. An arrow flew by his head. He looked back, and there they were. Hundreds upon hundreds of different monsters with torches and arrows and spears. He looked back and the sisters were just stepping off the bridge. He sprinted, he ran faster than he’d ever done before. It was dark and he couldn’t see anything in front of him, but he could hear the monsters right behind him on the bridge. He felt it giving in, the bridge caving under their weight. He kept running as the bridge fell. 

“Cut the ropes!” He called out to the people on the other side.

He had to make sure the monster’s didn’t follow, not now when he was this close to finish the trial. The people cut the ropes and the bridge was falling both behind and in front of him. He took one last step and lunged towards the other side of the gorge, the bridge and the monsters falling below him. He was just a bit short and landed towards the edge, hanging on by his hands. Thankfully, the sisters helped drag him up, and he collapsed in the grass. He had made it to the other side, and he had saved  _ everyone _ .

“Thank you for saving my sister!” The first woman exclaimed and hugged the hunter. 

“No one has ever saved me before. Now we can finally go home.” The other woman said. 

“What?” Dean asked in clear confusion.

“We’ve been trapped here for centuries, doomed to relive this puzzle every time someone has gone through the trials.” The young man explained. 

“You just set us free!” The sisters exclaimed in unison.

“So no one has even tried to save all of you before?” Dean asked with furrowed brows.

“No.” The old man said. “You’re the only one who has cared enough to even try.” He added with a smile. 

“And as promised, here is the key.” The young man said and handed Dean a silver key. 

As he took it, the people faded and vanished into thin air. What an adventure, but he didn’t have time to think about that now, so he sprinted to the red door, put the key in the lock, turned it, and walked out.


	18. Just an illusion

Jack could hear the commotion outside, so he got up and got ready for an attack, and of course, it came. It didn’t take long from the fight starting outside for an angel to barge into the infirmary. Jack lit a match and threw it on the glowing holy oil, making a protective circle of fire around Alec and Dean. The angel looked to them and then to Jack, and he charged at the nephilim with an angelblade, hopefully not a cursed one. Jack dodged the attack and spun around, facing the angel.

His eyes lit up in their golden orange and he raised his palm towards the angel. The angel then lit up from his mouth and eyes, then he fell down to the ground with blacks marks outlining his wings. Then another angel came in and surprised Jack by tackling him from behind, sending the nephilim through the holy fire and almost into Dean! Jack quickly got up, made sure the hunter hadn’t been disturbed or dropped the cup, and then he charged at the second angel, sending them both out into the hall outside of the infirmary. 

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

Dean was yet again in the dark room with the three doors. The first and the second door now shared the same symbol, marking them both as finished. He walked through the last door and he found himself in a Victorian style house, in a corridor, old portraits were lining the walls between several doors, but none of the doors were red. He carefully walked down the corridor, and glanced through the first door. The room was empty except for two pedestals in the middle of the room. He walked in and took a closer look. On one there was a machete, on the other was a gun. 

_ Choose one. _

The voice in his head echoed. Dean looked around, not really getting it, but ultimately he picked up the machete. Then the door shut behind him. There he saw a familiar face.

“Dad?” He asked, looking at his father standing before him.

“Hey, son.” His father said with a kind smile. 

Dean looked at him, then back at the pedestals. They were now gone. He threw his machete on the ground and hugged his father who hugged him back. 

“It’s been too long, son.” His father told him with a smile. 

“Are you an illusion? Or are you trapped here too?” He asked as they broke apart. 

“Do I look like an illusion to you?” His father asked.

“I don’t know. I guess not.” Dean said with a smile. 

“So, I’ve heard what you’ve been up to, Dean.” His father then said, smile dropping.

“What do you mean?” Dean asked.

“With this other man, Alexander was his name? I have to say I’m disappointed son.” His father said and turned his back on him.

“Disappointed? Because I’m dating a guy? Come on, I’m still the same person.” Dean said, sadness clear in his voice. 

“No, you’re not. You’re weak. It’s unnatural.” His father said.

“Dad, come on…” Dean said and reached for his shoulder.

When he did so, his father spun around. But this wasn’t his father. He hissed at Dean, eyes bloodshot and fangs out. This was a vampire. Now the weapons had made sense… Dean dodged just as his father lunged at him. He rolled stealthily towards the discarded machete and grabbed it. He turned around just as his father lunged again. He closed his eyes and swung the blade and his father stilled. Dean couldn’t look at him as his face turned back to normal, but he heard how his father’s head slowly detached itself from his body and it fell down with a loud thump, the rest of the body following. 

He heard the door behind him again. He turned around to find it ajar. He lowered his machete and carefully walked out into the corridor of the house again. He tried all the doors, but the only one that was unlocked was the second one from where he had originally come from. He stepped inside to find another empty room, and just like the last one, the door sounded behind him, and there was another familiar face. But this time, it was Sam.

“Sammy no, not you too, please.” Dean breathed out. 

“Oh yes, Dean, me too.” His brother said with a menacing smile, flashing his sharp fangs. 

“No…” Dean closed his eyes, he didn’t want to kill his brother, real or not. 

“I’m surprised you care so much, to be honest.” Sam told him. 

“What? What are you talking about?” Dean asked him, even though he knew better.

“Well, it’s not like you’ve been especially brotherly since  _ he _ got here.” Sam said and walked around him. 

“Wow, didn’t peg you for the jealous type, Sammy.” Dean snapped at the illusion of Sam.

“I don’t have to be. Not if it’s the truth. You always claimed to put family first, Dean. Now you’ve abandoned your brother, your best friend, even the little nephilim you think of as your son!” Sam said and kept circling Dean. 

“I haven’t abandoned anyone!” Dean snapped. 

“Right.” Sam scoffed. “You know why you’re here Dean. Come on, kill me. Kill your baby brother like he means nothing to you, to save your precious Alec. Or, prove me wrong and don’t kill me, your choice. Who’s it gonna be? Me or Alec?”

“You’re not my brother…” Dean said and swung his machete. 

He couldn’t look. Even if it was an illusion, he couldn’t look as his baby brother’s head rolled. He waited for the sound of the door opening. When he heard the click he turned away from Sam’s dead body and focused on getting out of the room. When he was in the corridor again he closed the door behind him and leaned against it, catching his breath. It didn’t matter if it was an illusion, it felt too real. He had figured out the last trial now. Killing the ones that he loved, them messing with his head. It was mental torture. 

He took a few deep breaths before continuing through the next door, deciding that he just wanted this over and done with. He stepped through the third door, and in there he had to kill a vampire version of his mom, her telling him what a failure he was, and how it was his fault that she had died. In the fourth room he was met with Charlie, his Charlie from before. In there he had to listen in excruciating detail to how she was murdered, and that it was all because of him, because she had trusted him. He thought back to Alec’s tombstone, and the words written on it. The words hit too close to home, but eventually, he had beheaded her too. He had to kill them all, but he could never look. He couldn’t look at their faces, afraid of the images getting stuck in his mind. By now tears were streaming down his face, mixing with the blood of the ones that he loved. He stepped through the fifth and final door. 

This room was different. Firstly, there was a red door on the other side of it. And here the person didn’t just show up behind him, they were already there. When he saw who it was as he stepped into the room he got so angry that he just charged right at the man. The man raised his hands placatingly, backing up.

“Dean! It’s me, it’s really me! I’m not an illusion!” Alec said with wide eyes, looking at the bloodsoaked hunter charging right at him. 

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

Jack fought the angel all the way out into the entrance where the others were battling. There were about half a dozen angels there, and presumably they all had cursed weapons. Mary and Bobby had made their way there as well, fighting back to back. Rowena and Madzie were working on some spell, Charlie and Sam were fighting too. Castiel was fighting Duma. Jack managed to kill the angel he had fought all the way from the infirmary, and decided to help Castiel. Duma saw him and smiled. 

“How kind of you to join us, Jack.” She said and charged at Jack, cursed blade raised. 

Castiel managed to knock her to the side and she fell into the map table, but quickly regained her balance. 

“I understand that you want to fix heaven, but this is not the way to do it!” Castiel yelled at her.

“I don’t think you do, or you would have helped us!” Duma yelled back. “Instead here you are, killing even more of us!”

“You’re the one who brought them here to fight. Their blood is on your hands!” Castiel told her angrily and charged at her. 

Punches flew between the two angels. Duma tried to cut Castiel with the cursed angelblade but he ducked just in time and when he stood again he kicked her in the stomach, knocking her backwards. She charged at him again, but just as she raised her blade towards Castiel, Jack ran to stand in between them. With his back towards Duma, he grabbed the blade and steered her hand down beside his stomach in an arch, making her stab herself right in the gut. 

Jack turned around to see Duma’s surprised expression. She stumbled backwards, clutching the blade that was still in her stomach. Vein-like marks spread through the wound, just like they had on Alec, but much faster. They saw the marks creeping up her collar, and then her eyes and mouth lit up, and Duma fell to the floor, blade still in her stomach and the marks of her wings surrounding her dead body.

The remaining angels stopped in their tracks. The whole room stilled. With a flutter of wings, all the angels were gone. The remaining people looked at each other. They had done it. They had won the battle. Then realisation hit. Sam was the first one to speak.

“Dean and Alec!” He called out and ran towards the infirmary, the others following right behind.


	19. It's all in your head

Dean stopped in his tracks. 

“Alec? Is it really you?” Dean asked, still wary of the man in front of him. 

“Yes, Dean. It’s really me. Please, don’t kill me.” Alec said and carefully walked towards the hunter.

“It’s not possible.” Dean said, but lowered his machete a little bit. 

“Yes, it is. I’m trapped, I’ve been here since the coma, waiting for you.” Alec said and now stood in front of Dean. 

“But… How? I don’t understand.” Dean said, the machete now lowered completely.

“I don’t know. But we’ll get out of this, okay? Together.” Alec said and embraced Dean who hugged him back. 

Dean pulled away a little, looking into those hazel eyes. This was Alec. It had to be. He kissed him, and Alec kissed him right back. 

“I’ve missed you so much.” Alec said as they broke apart. 

“I’ve missed you too! You have no idea how worried I was. I thought you were gone forever. I thought I was too late.” Dean said with tears in his eyes. 

“No, you’re not. I’m okay.” Alec said with a smile, stroking his thumb over Dean’s tear stained cheek. 

“Alec, I have to tell you. Before it’s too late again, I have to tell you.” Dean sobbed out.

“Tell me what?” Alec asked him, looking worriedly at the hunter.

“I love you.” Dean said and looked into his eyes. 

“Oh Dean…” Alec said, but with pity in his eyes. 

He hugged him again, putting Dean’s head towards his shoulder. 

“I’m so sorry. But I don’t love you.” Alec then said and Dean stiffened. 

“What? I thought…” Dean said and Alec shushed him.

“I mean I like you, we’ve had fun and all, but Dean… How could I love you? I almost married the _high warlock of Brooklyn_ , and you, you’re just a mundane…” Alec said in pity. 

Dean stepped back and looked at him in disbelief. 

“You can’t be serious. Just a _mundane_?” He asked, anger now colouring his voice. 

“Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate all you’ve done for me. You gave me this new life when I landed in this world, but love? I could never love you. I’ve told you before that nephilim only love once…” Alec told him in an apologetic tone. 

“I thought you said you were wrong about that…” Dean said and looked down. 

“Oh come on, it isn’t that big of a deal! Why do you have such a strong need to be loved anyway? It’s not like love is the Winchester way, now is it?” Alec asked him and Dean snapped his head back up. 

Dean had never heard Alec talk like this before, it was so out of character for him. All the words hurt more than anything. Then Charlie’s words echoed in his head.

_Remember, it’s all in your head._

He looked at the person who was definitely _not_ Alec with such a fury, it looked like fire was going to shoot out of his eyes.

“Oh no, went too far and blew my cover, didn’t I?” Alec then asked with an evil smirk, flashing sharp teeth. 

This was definitely the most convincing of all the illusions, but Dean knew what had to be done. He lunged at Alec with his machete, but the illusion dodged him smoothly, hissing at the hunter. That sound coming from his Alec made him cringe. Dean looked at his shadowhunter, now turned vampire. Alec’s usual hazels were bloodshot and dead, his teeth blocked by rows and rows of fangs, just like the vampires in their world. It didn’t look like Alec anymore, it was a monster, and it was this that made it even possible for Dean to do what he then did. 

He closed his eyes and ran the machete right into Alec’s stomach, and when the vampire sank to his knees, he ripped the machete out and swung it through his neck, beheading him. Just like with Sammy, he couldn’t stomach watching the head roll. He waited until he heard it thump, but neither door opened. He looked at the red door, waiting. Then he realised he needed a key. His veins filled with ice. Could the trials be this cruel? He turned around slowly, bracing himself for the sight before him. He looked down and saw Alec’s head, now back to normal, lying in a pool of blood next to his headless body. He turned to the wall and threw up. Tears were streaming down his face. He steeled himself and went over to the body, searching the pockets of the clothes it was wearing until he found the small key. He ran to the door, put the key in the lock, pushed it open, and went out into the light.

━━━━━ •☽• ━━━━━

Sam saw Dean gasp as he woke up in the infirmary. He looked at the cup as it glowed slightly, it was activated. Dean had done it!

“We have to do it now! He’s slipping!” Rowena called out as she was inspecting Alec with her magic.

Dean shot up from where he was and quickly mixed the blood and the tears in the now activated cup. As they all stood by and watched, Dean put the cup to Alec’s lips and forced the concoction down his throat. They all waited in suspense. Dean put the cup down once it was emptied and sat on the bed with Alec, watching his face for any movement. Rowena stood at the other side of the bed, hands still roaming close to the shadowhunter.

“He’s still slipping…” She said sadly. 

“No! It has to work!” Dean shouted.

“Maybe it was his father’s blood we needed…” Sam thought out loud. 

“Maybe it’s the tears…” Charlie argued.

“No, they were real! You should have seen him. It’s not the tears.” Dean said. 

“It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing we can do. The potion didn’t work. He’s gone…” Rowena said sadly and stopped what she was doing. “We’re too late.” She added as she stood by the others. 

Sam gestured for them to take a step back, giving Alec and Dean some space.

“No! No, we can’t be too late. Please Alec, wake up. Please…” Dean pleaded, tears streaming down his face. 

Madzie was crying too. She was watching the scene and her heart broke. Sam held her towards his chest in a protecting and comforting stance, feeling his shirt get damp. He looked at his brother, heartbroken over a love he never thought he’d have. 

Rowena and Charlie looked at them in pity. Mary and Bobby did the same. Castiel looked down and Jack had tears of his own. 

Dean sobbed and sobbed, his and Madzie’s were the only sounds filling the room. 

“Please, I’ll do anything. Please come back to me.” He whispered in vain. 

He kissed Alec’s lifeless lips, keeping his forehead towards the shadowhunter’s. 

“Alec, I’m so sorry. I should have protected you. I sh-should’ve done _more_. I’m so sorry I never told you, Alec, please forgive me. I love, I love you s-so much, please…”

Dean looked at Alec, silently begging him to just open his eyes. When minutes passed and nothing happened, he felt something snap inside of him. It was over, they were too late. He double and triple checked the shadowhunter’s pulse, nothing. He had to admit defeat.

“Goodbye, Alec.” He whispered and kissed his lifeless lips once more. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Dean stayed like that and kept crying over Alec’s death, his eyes closed, and then he felt eyelashes tickling his face. When he opened his eyes, hazel ones were staring into his green ones. 

“Alec!” Dean burst out in shock.

This startled the others, and when they saw Alec with his eyes open they all gasped. 

“Hey, what’s going on?” Alec asked and sat up in the bed.

He looked around and saw that he was in the infirmary. Then he saw all the people and wondered what the hell was going on. Then he looked back at Dean for an explanation. He didn’t get one however, but a smashing kiss, deep and passionate. He automatically kissed Dean back, not wanting to question the sudden change of heart in the other man. Then he felt the tears on Dean’s face and he pulled back.

“Why are you crying?” He asked the hunter in alarm. 

“Because you’re so stupid! And reckless! And I was worried sick! And you almost died!” Dean burst out.

Alec looked at him sheepishly.

“And because I love you.” Dean added in a slightly lower voice.

Alec snapped his head up.

“What did you say?” He asked in shock.

“I said I love you!” Dean laughed out.

“I love you too.” He said and cupped Dean’s face, looking deeply into the green eyes before him. 

After that, the others ran up to the shadowhunter and they all took turns hugging him and smiling and laughing. It really was overwhelming, but Alec didn’t mind one bit. He kept his eyes on Dean, everyone else fading into the background.


End file.
